Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Ohio
My husband had testicular biopsies that were found to have normal spermatogenesis. Thus the biopsies were immediatly transported to a local fertility center and then frozen. We were told to make an appointment with an IVF clinic, and would need to do ICSI IVF and the sperm would come from the frozen specimen. At the IVF appointment, the physician gave us the report from the biopsy, and stated my husband would have to undergo another surgery to retrieve spem as the biopsieis showed none. We called the surgeon, she was surprised by this and requested a consult from the Mayo Clinic to exam specimen. As he agreed with the assessment, he did not agree with the normal spermatogenesis. We initially paid money to have the specimen transported, analysed, and then stored as we were never informed of the zero sperm. the surgery was 5-20-10, analysis 5-20-10, and we found out by a different physician at the end of July 2010. Thus we also paid for an IVF consultation. Does this sound like a malpractice?
1 Answer from Attorneys
In order to prove malpractice you must prove a breach of duty and injury that was a proximate result of the breach. There is a possibiity that the original biopsy result was negligently reported as normal. This would potentially constitue a breach of a duty however if the biopsy result was abnormal with zerio sperm then the only damage that you could prove related to the mistake was the IVF consult and the additional biopsy. Whether that is enough injury to proceed with a malpractice case is subject to judgment. It may be the cost of pursuing a case may exceed the potential recovery that you could achieve. I hope others respond to your question as I would not likely accept your case due to the costs involved and the limited potential recovery that you could achieve. You might consider asking the lab that reported the original biopsy to pay for the additional costs you incurred. You might also consider reporting the error to the Ohio State Medical Board and/or the Joint Commission on Accrediation of Healthcare Orginations. (jcaho.org). Please also note that your statute of limitations will expire 1 year from the date that you discovered the mistake so you need to take immediate action to hire an attorney to take legal action on your behalf otherwise the statute of limitations will expire on any potential claim you might consider filing. Good luck and sorry for the news. Hope this is helpful. Please note that I would not accept your case if you were to contact me directly for the reasons stated above but would encourage you to seek additonal opinions from others immediately due to the time limits as someone else may have a different view of the facts and be willing to pursue this matter.
Howard Mishkind
www.mishkindlaw.com
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
