I don't mean literally.

 
I don't mean that you are married to your doctor.
 
I don't mean that you need a divorce attorney to separate from your doctor.
 
I'm talking about the doctor-patient relationship.
 
If you get along great with your doctor and he treated you beautifully, you can skip this article entirely.
 

This article is for a patient who believes her doctor was careless.

 
This article is for a patient who believes her doctor's carelessness caused her injury.
 
This article is for a patient who suffered significant harm and injury as a result of the doctors' wrongdoing.
 
Listen, I get it.
 
You love your doctor.
 

You been seeing him for years.

 
You trust him.
 
You put your life in his hands.
 
Whatever he says to do, you do.
 
He has your best interests at heart.
 

You have been going to him for years and years.

 
You've never had a problem before.
 
Except now you have.
 
After your surgery, you were in the intensive care unit for an entire week.
 
You needed to be have inpatient physical rehabilitation for three weeks.
 

You need more follow-up visits with new doctors.

 
You'll be going to doctors for the next six months just to focus on your complications.
 
You can't return to work.
 
Yet.
 
You can't help your spouse with your kids.
 

There's just no way.

 
You need a visiting nurse to come to your home seven days a week.
 
To change your bandages.
 
To bathe you.
 
To help you eat.
 

You're frustrated.

 
You're aggravated.
 
You're annoyed.
 
This is not how it was supposed to work.
 
Your surgeon told you everything would be fine.
 

He said the surgery would be routine and 'simple'.

 
You agreed.
 
He told you that you'd be in and out by the afternoon.
 
You'd be able to return to work in two days.
 
Except now you can't.
 

Everything he said was not true.

 
He told you that there were no significant complications.
 
There were.
 
He told you that you could go home by the afternoon.
 
You were in the hospital for four weeks following your simple surgery.
 

He told you lots of things that turned out to be untrue.

 
Now your medical bills are piling up.
 
Your health insurance company is threatening not to pay since none of this post-operative medical treatment was pre-authorized.
 
When you broached that topic with your doctor, he said to speak to his office manager who would call your insurance company.
 
That hasn't happend yet.
 

At this point, you don't know if it will happen.

 
Nothing your doctor has said was true.
 
The more you're sitting at home watching daytime TV, the angrier you get.
 
You can't do those activities that you used to be able to do.
 
Your new doctors tell you that your injuries will be permanent.
 

You will have a long-term disability because of this complication.

 
This is simply unacceptable.
 
You confront your doctor during one of your follow-up visits.
 
He brushes off your concern by saying you suffered a "known risk" of the procedure.
 
"If this was known, why didn't you take greater precaution to make sure it didn't happen?" you demand to know.
 

Your doctor again tries to deflect the question.

 
He doesn't want to get into a confrontation with you.
 
He turns the conversation around to the treatment you're getting now and how much improvement you've made in such a short time.
 
By this point, you've lost his trust.
 
You've lost the belief that he has your best interests at heart.
 

You no longer believe that he's looking out for you the way you thought he should.

 
You're wondering if you should divorce your doctor.
 
You're wondering if you should separate from him.
 
You think it's time to end the doctor-patient relationship.
 
It's time to move on.
 
Where?
 
You're not sure, but you know that continuing this relationship is no longer viable.
 

To learn more about whether it's time to divorce your physician, I invite you to watch the quick video below...

 
 
Gerry Oginski
Connect with me
NY Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer