The patient had been going to a gynecologist for a number of years. The Gynecologist did a series of tests on her and convinced her that she had advanced GYN cancer. He came right out and told her if she does not have cancer surgery to remove her uterus immediately, she would not be around to see her two young children grow up.

What do you think the patient opted to do?

She trusted her gynecologist. She never considered going to get a second opinion. She immediately scheduled surgery to have a hysterectomy.

Following the hysterectomy, the patient was told that the pathology reports were not as bad as originally believed.

Years later, the doctor swore, under oath, during his question and answer session at his pretrial testimony (also known as a depositin) that he firmly believed the patient had advanced GYN cancer. Yet when I confronted him about the appropriate standards of care and what should be done if those tests revealed the suspicion that a patient had cancer, he clearly was not familiar with the guidelines published by the American College of obstetrics and gynecology on this issue.

Amazingly, this gynecologist never came right out and told the patient after her surgery that there was no evidence whatsoever that she had any type of cancer.

None of the tissue specimens that he submitted to pathology showed any type of cancer. In fact, it turns out the doctor misinterpreted the original pathology reports that prompted him to reach an incorrect conclusion about offering the patient a hysterectomy to treat her condition.

This young woman was planning to have more children, but because of this doctor's incorrect interpretation and plan of action, she can no longer have children.

The patient did not learn that she had an unnecessary hysterectomy until she came to our office to get answers to her questions. It was only after a detailed medical review were we able to confirm that this patient's hysterectomy never should have been performed.

Gerry Oginski
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NY Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer