Monday, September 19, 2016

Can I Sue My Doctor After A Pregnancy Even Though I Had My Tubes Tied?


Sep. 19, 2016


Dear Cathy:

My husband and I were really living below the poverty line so after 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls, I decided to get my tubes tied. However, I ended up getting pregnant again and had another girl. Can I sue my OB/GYN because we thought this was a permanent fix? No More Babies, Connecticut

Dear No More Babies:

Getting your cords tied is also called “Tubal Ligation” but your friends might call it simply “getting your tubes or cords tied.” In this procedure, a surgeon closes off your fallopian tubes, which carry eggs from your ovaries to your uterus.

Tubal ligation is usually done in a hospital or clinic and takes about 30 minutes. You'll probably go home the same day. Some women have it done when they deliver their last baby via C-section, while they're already being operated on.

If you had this procedure the paperwork that you signed should have also listed the possible side effects and your doctor should also have discussed this with you. 

The side effects include bleeding, infection, damage to other organs, side effects from anesthesia, and ectopic pregnancy -- when a fertilized egg stays in your fallopian tube.

So getting pregnant again was a side effect. It's more than 99% effective, but not right away. The scars need time to form, so you should have planned on using backup protection for about 3 months.

Sometimes before patients are admitted for surgery, they have to come into the doctor’s office or hospital, just to make sure the paperwork is in order. Many people for some reason don’t even keep copies of this paperwork. 

If you still have the paperwork and if it did not list possible side effects and if your doctor did not explain to you possible side effects, you might have a case.

However, suing a doctor is sometimes like suing the federal government, it’s extremely hard to do. Look at it like this, you had another unscheduled child but did you really plan the birth of your other 4 children?

Sometimes people have these unscheduled births and these children are the ones that end up taking care and providing for them as they get older -- so just look at this unscheduled birth like a "blessing in disguise."

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