When you go in the hospital to have surgery, you believe that your surgeon will provide you with care and treatment that meets the accepted standard of care. When that doesn’t happen and you end up injured or ill because of negligence on the part of the doctor or medical staff, you have a right to seek compensation. For one woman in Connecticut’s neighboring state of New York, a hysterectomy turned into a nightmare.

The 51-year-old woman had the hysterectomy done in 2011. According to surgical experts, the doctor cut the woman’s bowel during the surgery. The cuts were not found by the doctor and they were not repaired. This caused the woman an infection that grew worse for 10 days. When the woman was diagnosed with the abdominal infection, more surgeries were required. She had to have a colostomy bag because of the severe damage to her intestines. She wore that for seven months.

The doctor plans on appealing the jury award of $1.52 million for the woman’s loss of wages and pain and suffering. Most medical malpractice cases don’t even make it to trial — less than 5 percent, according to research done in 2012 by Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. Of the cases that do go to trial, almost 80 percent are won by the physician.

If you or a loved one were injured because of a doctor’s failure to meet the standard of care, you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, lost wages and more. An experienced attorney can help determine what your legal options are.

Source: timesunion.com, “Delanson woman wins $1.52M malpractice jury award,” Claire Hughes, March 03, 2016