Surgical Errors During Valve Replacement Surgery

[littlejuniata]

Went in as a healthy 72 year old was told that the valve replacement would make me healthier and have more energy, was pretty darned healthy before, no chest pains or shortness of breath. Was told 5 days and I wuld be headed home. The surgeon cut my cartoid artery accidently and I nearly bled to death, resulting in my being in a coma for two months. Now nearly 2 years later, I am still far from a healtjy 180 (6 ft tall) now I am 150 and scranwy, have 50 percent loss of use of one arm, have shoulder blades that look like turn signals, have very little energy, my mental capacity has diminished. The streses my wife went through with this deal could have resulted in here being off her feet for an extended period of time and her hospitalization and medical costs where a result of my condition and the surgical errors made by the VA heart surgeon. What should I claim and for how much money?? Thanks for any and all advise.

Edited June 4, 2007 by littlejuniata

[Pete53]

Good Luck and I hope that you get a really big settlement.

[Jay Johnson]

My FTCA claim is for $1,250,000 based on the damages I listed before and anticipating additional medical care. Right now, its value is somewhere between $0 and $1,250,000. The Regional Counsel has finally engaged and we are in the negotiation stage. We have about two and a half months to reach a mutually acceptable settlement. If no settlement is reached before Sept. 2, 2007 and we do not agree to an extension, we will file a suit in Federal District Court and the Regional Counsel will be replaced by the local US Attorney. Both the Regional Counsel and I have indicated our desire to avoid court and negotiate a settlement. We have also agreed to have an impartial third party mediate the negotiations. So you see, Jay there are opportunities to arrive at a fair and just settlement of an FTCA claim.

Herein lies the problem. You are using local rules because you are at the local stage (which really isn't an FTCA; it's a VA thing). If you do not get the award you want it becomes an FTCA that is handled under FTCA rules in federal court and you no longer fall under state guidelines. Now, perhaps Illinois has a different set of laws at the local level and perhaps they were not offered a reasonable sum at that level, but once in federal court one cannot sue for pain/suffering; it's clearly written in the FTCA regulations.

So, I think we're both right here....you may get some money based on local laws, but that sum will likely change when you reach the federal level. But, then again, what incentive do the local folks have knowing your case changes once it reaches the federal level? My guess is that 1.25 million is a reasonable sum with or without any pain/suffering factored in, but had you asked for a rather large sum (like 5 mil+), they would have just passed you right to the federal system.

Either way, I wish you luck....in the end, people *deserve* the money whether the VA will pay it or not.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Jay Johnson

[Berta]

This was superb information!

correct on all accounts-

Also many states have specific monetary caps on settlements out of court- something to access and be aware of when you negotiate-

A bird in the hand- is worth 2 in the bush-as the old saying goes-

Meaning out of court settlements are often the very best way to deal with these matters-

money should be a secondary factor- money does not make one whole or restore their life-

Once a claim like this is resolved a veteran can move on-

the fed court process is long and arduous-

so these are things one must consider if they dont like the VA's final offer or if in fact the VA does not act on the claim within the specific 6 month time frame-as defined in the SF 95 regs- allowing them to pursue in federal court.

Evidence is everything-no conjecture- just cold hard evidence of malpractice-

Last time I talked to the RC regarding my present claim- about a few months ago- I told him not only did my other claim prove malpractice -this present one regards the cover up-of the true malpracticed initial condition-

he knows what I have got as evidence-documentation from the VA itself in the med recs----so he didn't question the issue I had raised as to my present claim and the tie in with the other Sec 1151 award.

[littlejuniata]

Many, many thanks again. I need to present this to you. I went into surgery in July, the surgeon cut my cartoid artery I nearly bled to death before they noticed the blood loss. The surgeon who repaired my cartoid artery after the heart surgeon cut it said "it was so badly mangled that she had to sever it and start from there" would that be carelessness or neglegence or how would you describe that in medical, legal terms? When this happened they sewed me back up and I was in a coma till they were forced to operate in August, during that time, I was developing pneumonia, the damaged valve that they were going to replace got worse and blood was flushing back into my heart, my heart developed very rapid heartbeats and they had to shock it to correct that. What should I enter on the dollar amount part of the Form 95?? I do not want a long drawnout procedure involving attorneys. Thanks in advance for your advise.

Edited June 7, 2007 by littlejuniata

[Berta]

Put what I put ---$58,000,000.00

It doesn't matter what you put but if you ask for too little-you are stuck with that figure-

See how this is all documented in your medical records-as to the medical error-

find out if any incident report was done- probably not-it would be in your c file (maybe)

I suggest that under # 8, Basis of claim that you state :

'A medical error occurred during the surgery of (date) at the ____VAMC and due to that medical error I have suffered additional disability(ies) of (whatever damage you have now that you didnt have prior to the surgery) or give them a brief rundown of whatever happened next to you as direct result of the medical error. I believe that the treatment I received from the ____ VAMC from (date to date) in addition to the initial medical error was totally inconsistent with appropriate practices within the usual and standard medical community and the negligence of the VA further compounded my limited recovery.'

They will certainly ask for more info at some point and make sure you get your VA med rec copies and also a copy of your c file before the MF shows up- the Mysterious Force who removes the crucial evidence sometimes when they get these types of claims.Make sure the surgical and the nurtsing notes are in there.

In my case the nurses took better notes on my husband then the doctors-per the OGC.

Make sure you have the blood transfusion record -it is critical in my opinion-to your claim.

As witnesses I named all doctors I found guilty of malpractice=I suggest you do the same-

The property damage part-just put N/A-not applicable-

Edited June 7, 2007 by Berta

[littlejuniata]

Berta: Thanks for the input. In addition when I finally came out of the 2 month coma, my arm was for all pratcial purposes useless, (have gained back abou 50 percent usage) I am still down at 150 from 180, used to flyfish, bike, canoe and shoot hoops with the grandkids, no energy for that at present or since the operation. I do have all my med records from VA, seema to be about 20 pounds of them, VA was EXTREMELY worried about brain damage shown by the tests they ran. My wife was hospitalized due to stresses she had during this debacle, would that be considered in any financial settlement?? Thanks again