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Compensation Claim for Surgical Complications

Can I make a compensation claim for surgical complications if my routine lung surgery resulted in me sustaining severe spinal damage?

You could be entitled to make a compensation claim for surgical complications if you have been the victim of the negligence of a medical professional. When under the duty of care of a medical professional, you should not expect to sustain a further injury and compensation for a surgical complication accident could be possible if you have been the victim of negligence. However making a claim for a surgical complication injury can be highly complex and even if it is clear that a further injury has been sustained you may not always be able to seek compensation. For this reason you are advised to consult a personal injury* solicitor before pursuing surgical complications compensation to improve the likelihood that your claim will be successful.

It is crucial to remember that – as with all medical negligence* claims – a compensation claim for surgical complications cannot be made through the Injuries Board. In order to make a claim, it must be proven that – on the “balance of probabilities” – your surgical complication injury would not have occurred had a competent surgeon performed your surgery. This may be the situation if your surgical complication accident occurred as a result of an unnecessary procedure taking place in the course of the surgery which was entirely avoidable and would not have been performed by a competent surgeon. This evidence will have to be verified by a medical professional and if your injury was sustained due to the poor professional performance of the surgeon, you may be entitled to claim surgical complications compensation.

However there are some circumstances in which your compensation claim for surgical complications may not be possible if – for instance – it is determined that the surgeon in question had not acted negligently. This may be the situation if your surgical complication accident was unavoidable and the surgeon took the best viable option available at the time – which also would have been performed by a competent surgeon. It is also possible that your surgical complication injury was worsened because you failed to cooperate with doctors following your surgery – for instance, if you failed to attend appointments or refused to take medication. In these situations, the surgeon may not hold liability for your injury and if their liability is severely limited, surgical complications compensation may not be worth your while to pursue.

As making a claim for surgical complications compensation can be a highly complex procedure, you are advised to contact a personal injury* solicitor at the earliest opportunity following your accident and injury. Your solicitor will describe to you in detail the process of making a claim and can assist in gathering evidence to support your allegations of surgical complication injury – including seeking verification from a medical professional regarding liability. It should be remembered that a two year time limit exists in which to make a claim for surgical complication accident and pursuing compensation can be a time consuming process. For this reason a personal injury* solicitor should always be consulted before pursuing a compensation claim for surgical complications.