Should I sue for malpractice regarding a botched circumcision/

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Should I sue for malpractice regarding a botched circumcision/

My child’s mother and I took my 7 day old son to get circumcised. This is our beliefs I do not need a run down on why this is not needed. The surgeon performed the surgery and brought our son back and said she’d be back in 20 minutes to check on the operated part. She returned, took my son’s diaper off, removed the bandaging and lifted the head of my son’s penis and a stream of blood bursted out from it. She immediately looked panicked. She did this several times until we went through 2 blood soaked diapers. She then bandaged it back tighter then before and said she’d be back in another 20 minutes. However, 35 went by and she returned did the whole undressing routine and the same thing happened. A stream of blood escaping from my son’s penis. And she did this several times until she just stopped and left the room and returned with a nurse. This whole time my wife and I were getting front row seats to this. She brought back some chopstick looking things she said was medicine and put it on my son and left. She later told us it was lidocaine. However, it looked like nitro sticks to me. She then returned another 30 minutes later and unraveled the bandage and, you guessed it, more blood. I thought my son was going to bleed out in front of me. The nurse finally decided that she was going to call a urologist and said to go home and they’d call us. We refused, saying we would not take a bleeding infant home. So they said go ahead and head to his office which was 10 miles away. Very upset, we loaded our child up and went. Once we got there we waited for about 15 minutes and then met the doctor. He took our son back and put 3 stitches in his penis. This whole time were being told it was just bleeding or a cut veins. It turned out that the doctor who preformed the circumcision cut the frenulum, the most sensitive part of the penis. And obviously deep enough to need 3 stitches. They instantly gave us our money back for the circumcision today at his check up. This happened yesterday which makes me feel like they did something they weren’t supposed to. I was told this happens but it’s very rare and it’s a mistake. With it being so deep, I’m worried this will change my son’s sex life when his older. My wife is traumatized to the point where she doesn’t want anymore kids. We will never forget seeing our infant son covered in his own blood because of a mistake. Should I sue for malpractice?

Asked on September 19, 2018 under Malpractice Law, Arizona

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

Medical malpractice is negligence.  Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable medical practitioner in the community would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
Prior to filing a lawsuit against the doctor, it may be possible to settle the case with the doctor's malpractice insurance carrier. Your son's claim filed with the doctor's malpractice insurance carrier should include the medical bills and medical reports.
Although one bill was refunded, there were medical bills from the second doctor.  Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement.  The medical reports document your son's condition and treatment , and are used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills.
If the case is settled with the first doctor's malpractice insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the malpractice insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the doctor.  You will need to be appointed guardian ad litem to file a lawsuit on your son's behalf because he is a minor.
If the case is NOT settled, the lawsuit on behalf of your son against the first doctor for negligence, must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or your son will lose his rights forever in the matter.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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