Hysterectomy: Very Common Surgeries--Inexcusable Mistakes
Hysterectomy is the name for the operation in which a woman's uterus is removed, often along with her ovaries. Approximately 600,000 hysterectomies are performed annually in the United States, and approximately 20 million American women have had a hysterectomy. By the age of 60, more than one-third of all women have had a hysterectomy.
By now, gynecologists and surgeons know very well how to avoid unnecessary injuries during hysterectomy operations. They have equipment, techniques and safety rules that should make injuries to women's ureters or bladder or bowels impossible except in very rare cases. But these injuries still occur during hysterectomy surgery far too often.
Women Hurt by Malpractice During Hysterectomy
Our medical malpractice team has handled many of the same types of hysterectomy case over and over. Cases like:
- Malpractice by cutting or clipping shut the ureter (the tube that carries urine from a woman's kidneys to her bladder)
- Hysterectomy malpractice in cutting or burning the woman's bladder
- Malpractice in cutting or burning a woman's bowels during hysterectomy surgery
These are terrible injuries. Some of the women we have represented were permanently injured and disabled. Some have had to wear colostomy bags, or diapers. All of them had disfiguring scars, pain and embarrassment.