When you are admitted into the hospital or your physician’s office to have a medical procedure performed, whether it is invasive or not, while you are aware that complications can arise, you likely don’t expect that a mistake will be made. After all, doctors and other healthcare staff are licensed and trained to work in the medical field which means they understand and are aware of how to perform the certain tasks they take on, right? Although you would assume this, not every medical professional performs their job to the best of their ability. Some make mistakes while others neglect to provide adequate care to the patients they are tending to. And while some are recognized for this, others continue on treating patients putting more and more lives at risk.
In recent news, it was reported that a surgeon accidentally removed an Iowa woman’s right kidney rather than her adrenal gland and an associated mass, according to the New York Post. After the woman had the surgery performed in October 2016, she developed stage-three kidney disease and it wasn’t until recently that she decided to take legal action against the physician. The woman proceeded to file a lawsuit citing professional negligence as the reason and named Dr. Scott Baker, the performing surgeon, and The Surgical Institute of South Dakota as the defendants. Although the source stated that after the lawsuit was filed, Baker acknowledged that he “mistakenly” removed the woman’s right kidney, but that he did not breach the standard of care.
Apparently, the patient wasn’t informed about the mix-up “until after she was released from the hospital.” The source says that Baker was, in fact, made aware of the mistake after he was notified by Avera McKennan Hospital’s pathology department and he claimed that the patient was notified of the error on the same day she had her surgery performed. Aside from accepting that an error was made, both Baker and the hospital “said they did not breach the standard of care by removing the kidney, failing to remove the adrenal gland, and failing to admit the mistake. They also deny that [the patient] suffered damages.”
The patient went on to have her adrenal gland removed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and may have to wait an extended period of time before a judge rules on her case as the physician is not willing to admit to professional negligence.
While you would assume that a medical professional would be willing to accept fault for the mistakes he/she makes, this isn’t always the case. In fact, this is precisely why an individual who has been injured by a physician in Iowa or provided with the wrong type of care needs to hire an IA personal injury attorney. The reality is, there are plenty of doctors who are sued for making medical mistakes and are still out in the field practicing. Unfortunately, it isn’t always that easy to recognize a physician for medical negligence unless you have a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer representing you and defending your rights.
Therefore, if you live in Iowa and had a medical procedure performed that led to you suffering an injury or you believe your physician made a mistake while your surgery was being performed, contact the Iowa personal injury lawyers at Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, P.L.C. Our attorneys specialize in handling all types of personal injury cases, including those involving medical malpractice and can help you seek the justice you deserve for the pain and suffering the mistake has caused you to experience.
Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, P.L.C. can be reached at:
1921 51st Street NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Phone: (319) 393-1020
Fax: (319) 393-4000
Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, PLC 
