Putting Our Knowledge And Experience To Work
Gastric Bypass Lawsuits
Ohio and Kentucky Lawyers for Injuries from Lap Band, Gastric Bypass, and Gastric Sleeve Procedures
Many people suffering from obesity have turned to bariatric surgery to lose weight, including procedures such as gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and lap band surgeries. These bariatric procedures have many risks involved and should be performed only on people who are significantly overweight and who have exhausted other weight loss options.
Tragically, many of those who turn to bariatric procedures such as gastric bypass surgery suffer severe medical setbacks or lose their lives due to medical negligence. In either case, victims and their families can suffer financial, physical, and emotional challenges, with medical bills mounting and complications worsening. To account for these extensive losses and damages, injured patients and/or their families may file bariatric surgery lawsuits to seek fair compensation for their injuries.
If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries or wrongful death due to a gastric bypass surgery error, the Ohio and Kentucky medical malpractice attorneys at TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm are here to offer you experienced legal guidance and strong advocacy. With law offices in both Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, our lawyers are experienced with medical malpractice cases involving gastric bypass procedure errors and will represent you with compassion, understanding, and committed advocacy. Give us a call toll-free at (800) 698-4054 to schedule a free consultation regarding your gastric bypass lawsuit today.
What is Gastric Bypass Surgery?
Gastric bypass surgery, also known as Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass or bariatric surgery, is the most common type of weight loss surgery performed in the United States. This procedure is considered a medical procedure rather than a plastic surgery procedure, as it is reserved for people suffering from morbid obesity and who have exhausted all other weight-loss options with no success. Patients who qualify for gastric bypass surgeries must typically have a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater and have a preexisting medical condition such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
During the procedure, a surgeon will separate your stomach into a small upper pouch and a larger lower pouch. Then, the surgeon will connect your small pouch to a part of your small intestine. The small pouch will essentially be your new stomach, as it is where food will go.
Typically, the patient’s stomach pouch is reduced to the approximate size of a golf ball, leading the patient to eat significantly less. With such a limited food intake, overweight patients absorb fewer calories and lose plenty of weight.
Many patients who experience a successful gastric bypass surgery will benefit from long-lasting results. However, complications can and often do arise, and in some cases, may lead to a gastric bypass medical malpractice lawsuit.
Other Types of Bariatric Surgeries
In addition to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, there are other types of weight loss surgeries that a patient might undergo. Other types of bariatric surgery include Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding, Sleeve Gastrectomy, Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch, and Single Anastomosis Duodeno-Ileal Bypass with Sleeve Gastrectomy. However, the three most commonly performed bariatric procedures in the United States are gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band (lap band), and gastric sleeve procedures.
Any type of surgical procedure intended to help a patient lose weight carries its own set of risks and complications. However, if you or a loved one suffered injuries from a bariatric surgeons’ negligent medical error, you may have a malpractice claim. Bariatric surgery malpractice can lead to a lifetime of challenges for victims and/or their families. An experienced Kentucky or Ohio medical malpractice attorney, like those at TLF, can assist you in proving medical malpractice occurred as well as who is responsible to ensure you receive fair compensation for any and all injuries sustained.
Complications From Bariatric Surgery
Gastric bypass surgeries and other bariatric surgeries can carry serious complications and potentially lead to catastrophic injuries, worsening health problems, or even death. It is imperative that your surgeon advises you of any and all gastric bypass risks and receives your informed consent before conducting the operation. As with most invasive surgeries, gastric bypass patients face the risk of a serious complication such as a surgical infection like sepsis or staph infection, gastric bleeding, pulmonary embolism and venous thromboembolism (blood clots), anesthesia-related problems, and excessive hemorrhaging. Other post-surgery complications a patient may experience include:
- Postoperative infection
- Hernias
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Ulcers
- Retained foreign body
- Leak and sepsis
- Gallstones
- Bowel obstruction
- Digestive problems
- Intestinal bleeding
- Sleeve stricture
- Low blood sugar
- Wernicke’s Encephalopathy
- Stomach perforation
- Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting
- Memory loss
Bariatric Surgery Malpractice
Though all surgeries come with inherent risks, some of these complications may be the result of surgical malpractice and can lead to permanent injury or death. Many of these malpractice cases are due to inexperienced surgeons who fail to identify existing medical conditions, such as lung disease or blood clots, that can make weight loss surgery unsuitable and extremely dangerous for certain patients. Serious injuries and death are also fairly common due to a delay in identifying and treating a complication or surgical errors causing an unnecessary complication. If you and your family have suffered due to negligent surgical errors, you may feel angry or frustrated that you were injured at the hands of a treating doctor, nurses, hospital employees, or other medical professionals you believed you could trust.
At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, we are dedicated to helping victims of Kentucky and Ohio medical malpractice and their families assert their rightful claims to financial recovery. Our Cincinnati and Covington personal injury attorneys are devoted to discovering what happened and just how your surgical error occurred. Our main priority is helping families receive compensation to ease the burden of caring for family members left with a serious injury or for the unexpected loss of a loved one. With decades of experience handling medical negligence cases such as faulty gastric bypass procedures, our firm knows how to get the results you need in your case.
Do I Have a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit for my Bariatric Surgery Errors?
In order to prove medical negligence occurred and to successfully bring a gastric bypass medical malpractice case, a breach of duty must have occurred. First, it must be proven that a formal doctor-patient relationship existed and that your doctor owed a certain legal duty of care. Your attorney must then establish the appropriate level of care in a similar medical environment and that a qualified medical professional would not have reached a similar outcome. Finally, it must be proven that the established duty of care was breached by your healthcare provider and that this breach of duty directly led to your injury.
At TLF, our firm will fully investigate the circumstances of a surgical error and will gather the evidence, medical documentation, and expert testimony necessary to support your claim. The following are examples of areas in which surgical negligence can occur:
- Medication errors
- Failure to appreciate changes in patient condition
- Failure to monitor vital signs
- Failure to follow policies and procedures
- Training failures
- Failure to intervene
- Nursing errors
- Hospitalist errors
- Resident errors
- Emergency room errors
- Failure to diagnose
- Anesthesia mistakes
- Incompetent doctors
- Credentialing negligence
- Communication errors
- Documentation and charting errors
- Electronic Medical Record failures
If you lost a loved one due to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass malpractice, you might also be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent professional(s). Our Kentucky and Ohio wrongful death attorneys at TLF are highly experienced in handling even the most complex wrongful death cases and always work toward the best possible outcome for our clients. We are also qualified to help your family through the probate process associated with the untimely death of your loved one.
How Can a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Help Me with My Gastric Bypass Malpractice Lawsuit?
If a surgeon or hospital staff failed to provide appropriate care and/or treat complications following a standard gastric bypass or bariatric surgery, an experienced medical injury law firm can help you pursue a case for gastric bypass surgery malpractice against the negligent parties. Litigation to prove hospital negligence is complex and requires both medical and legal knowledge. Our experienced attorneys at TLF are supported by a nurse on staff and are networked with other medical professionals and experts. These experts and consultants can help us build a strong argument to recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and other costs of an illness or injury due to preventable medical errors.
If you were injured due to medical negligence, do not hesitate to contact our firm and establish an attorney-client relationship today. We will work to recover maximum compensation for your injuries through a medical malpractice settlement. If we can not get your case settled through negotiation, we are prepared to take your case to trial and fight aggressively for you and your family there.
Cincinnati & Covington Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Bariatric Surgery Malpractice
Weight loss surgery can be a life-saving procedure for many patients, but medical mistakes can lead to serious injury and quickly make the surgery a life-threatening one. If this is the case, the patient and their family deserve full compensation for the devastation caused by this negligence. At TLF: The Medical Injury Law Firm, our skilled Kentucky and Ohio-based legal team has decades of experience handling malpractice lawsuits for gastric bypass surgeries as well as hundreds of other procedures. In addition to gastric bypass surgical procedures, we also handle birth injury lawsuits, nursing home lawsuits due to nursing home abuse and neglect, radiology errors, traumatic brain injury lawsuits, and many more personal injury and medical malpractice claims.
If you or a loved one has received injuries due to a gastric bypass surgery error, our lawyers are here to protect your rights. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won’t pay a single legal fee until we recover compensation on your behalf. Contact us today by calling 800-698-4054 to arrange a free consultation where you can discuss confidential or sensitive information and receive formal legal advice from an experienced attorney.
Practice Areas
You Pay No Fees Unless We Win!
We are happy to offer a free consultation to evaluate your case. If you hire us as your legal counsel, we will represent you on a contingency-fee basis. You will pay no attorneys’ fees unless we recover financial damages.