The gallbladder is a small organ near the liver. The gallbladder is a pouch that contains bile. What does the gallbladder do? The gallbladder squeezes bile into the small intestine after a person has finished eating. Subsequently, the bile helps digest fats in the person’s’ food.
Gallstone surgical negligence compensation claims guide
There are different conditions that may affect the gallbladder. These include gallstones. Consequently, if the condition is considered serious you may need surgery. In this guide, we will explain how gallstone surgical negligence can harm patients. We will also explain the detrimental effect that other types of gall bladder negligence can have.
Has negligent gallbladder treatment caused an injury that should not have happened? You may be eligible to make a gallbladder or gallstone surgery claim for compensation. To have your case assessed today, contact Medical Negligence Assist using the details below:
- Call our medical negligence claims helpline on 0800 652 3087
- Alternatively, could you enquire via our website?
If we can see that you are owed compensation for your injuries, we will assign a skilled clinical negligence solicitor to work on your claim.
Select A Section
- What Is Gallstone Surgical Negligence?
- What Is Gallbladder Surgical Negligence?
- Can You Claim Compensation For Gallbladder Negligence?
- Why Do Patients Need Gallbladder Or Gallstone Surgery?
- Complications Of Gallbladder Surgery
- What Are Surgical Never Events?
- Bile Duct Injuries Caused By Gallbladder Surgery
- What Are The Symptoms Of A Bile Duct Injury?
- Time Limits To Claim Gallstone Surgical Negligence
- Gallstone Surgical Negligence Compensation Calculator
- No Win No Fee Gallstone Surgical Negligence Claims
- How Could We Help?
- How Common Are Surgical Never Events?
- Helpful Links
What Is Gallstone Surgical Negligence?
Gallstone surgical negligence is when a surgeon provides a patient with substandard medical care during gallstone surgery. For example, a surgeon may operate on the wrong body part. Or they may perforate the gallbladder, causing bile to leak. As a result, the patient’s condition may become worse, or they are avoidably injured.
In this guide, we will look at why missed gallstones could be detrimental to your health. Or how gallstone medical negligence could cause your condition to worsen unnecessarily. In addition, we will look at how other types of negligent gallbladder surgery could potentially occur. In this guide, it will determine what makes a case eligible for medical negligence compensation.
What Is Gallbladder Surgical Negligence?
First of all, let’s define what medical negligence is. Medical negligence is when a medical practitioner provides a patient with substandard medical care. As a result of the breach in duty of care, the patient is injured, becomes ill, or their pre-existing medical condition worsens that would not have otherwise happened.
Medical negligence can happen because of a deviation made by a doctor, nurse, surgeon, dentist, or another medical practitioner. The terms medical malpractice and clinical negligence are also used in place of medical negligence.
What is gallbladder surgical negligence? If a patient is injured during a gallbladder operation, this does not mean negligence has occurred. Very often when patients are having surgery injuries or side effects of the surgery can happen. But these may all be part of the procedure. It is when an illness is caused unnecessarily or an injury happens that should not have taken place due to a poor standard of care that surgery negligence is considered.
Can You Claim Compensation For Gallbladder Surgery Negligence?
To make a successful gallbladder or gallstone negligence surgery claim, you will need to prove the following:
- You were a patient of the surgeon who treated you; therefore, the surgeon owed you a duty of care.
- What’s more, that an incident of medical negligence took place.
- And finally that the gallstone surgery negligence injured you directly.
Your medical negligence solicitor, if you decide to use one will use your medical records and other information to prove the above. To begin your claim for gallbladder or gallstone surgical negligence, contact Medical Negligence Assist today.
Why Do Patients Need Gallbladder Or Gallstone Surgery?
Some medical conditions can affect the gallbladder, which requires surgery to correct. Let’s look at some examples of gallbladder conditions below.
Gallstones (Cholelithiasis)
Gallstones are usually made of cholesterol. They usually do not cause any symptoms and very often do not need any treatment; however, gallstones can sometimes cause nausea, inflammation and pain. They may become lodged in the opening duct which can cause extremely intense pain. This can lead to cholecystitis.
In some cases, gallstones can lead to gallstone pancreatitis. Gallstone pancreatitis is a serious medical condition that occurs if a gallstone blocks a duct that drains the pancreas.
Cholecystitis
Gallstones can cause cholecystitis, which is inflammation of the gallbladder. Patients with cholecystitis can experience fever and severe pain. It can also cause jaundice. Consequently, if the cholecystitis is persistent, the patient may need gallbladder surgery to correct it.
Gallbladder Cancer
Gallbladder cancer is a rare form of cancer. Unfortunately, gallbladder cancer is difficult to diagnose. This is because it can be mistaken for gallstones. Therefore, the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer may be at a later stage. Gallbladder cancer can be treated with surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
A patient may have surgery to remove their gallbladder. This is done using keyhole surgery on the gallbladder, known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. What is keyhole surgery? Keyhole surgery is a type of surgery that is used to access the pelvis or the abdomen. The surgeon uses a small incision and a camera rather than a large incision. The patient usually experiences less pain and a shorter recovery time after keyhole surgery.
Complications Of Gallbladder Surgery
The majority of gallbladder operations go well. However, complications can arise from surgery. Before having surgery on your gallbladder, your surgeon will make you aware of these risks.
What can go wrong in gallbladder surgery? Here are some examples of uncommon possible complications arising from gallbladder surgery:
- A wound becomes infected
- A chest infection
- Bile leakage
- Excessive bleeding
- Wound numbness
- Tummy pain
- Indigestion
- Diarrhoea
- Temperature
- A patient has to have an open operation rather than the planned keyhole surgery.
- The patient suffers from pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Here are some examples of rare and very rare complications that can happen following gallbladder surgery:
- Retained gallstones
- Injury to bile duct
- Injury to blood vessels
- Or an injury to other organs
However, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered to be a safe medical procedure. Would you please speak to your doctor if you have any concerns?
What Are Surgical Never Events?
A surgical never event is a serious incident that happens during surgery. Surgical never events are the sorts of errors that should never happen. But sadly do, due to a lack of proper preparation, poor management or human error. For example, a surgeon may leave a foreign body inside a patient. Such as a piece of surgical equipment. Or wrong-site surgery occurs. Wrong-site surgery is when a surgeon operates on the wrong part of their patient’s body.
Never events can happen if gallbladder surgery medical negligence occurs. For example, if a surgeon damages other organs. This can cause the patient to suffer further medical complications.
Other Examples Of Gallstone Surgical Negligence
- The surgeon perforates the gallbladder during surgery. This means that bile may leak out of the gallbladder and into other organs. The patient may suffer excessive abdominal pain and need more surgery to correct the error.
- Medical negligence causes a gallstone misdiagnosis. This means that a doctor negligently misdiagnoses gallstones. Therefore the patient undergoes an operation they do not need. Or the doctor misses the gallstones because they failed to listen to the patient’s symptoms, and the necessary treatment is delayed. This means the patient is left in pain much longer than they needed to be.
- Gallbladder surgery medical negligence can also happen if the patient suffers an infection due to unhygienic practices.
Have you been harmed because of unnecessary mistakes in gallbladder surgery? Contact us today about suing for missed gallstones or gallbladder surgical negligence to begin your claim.
Bile Duct Injuries Caused By Gallbladder Surgery
What are the consequences of a bile duct injury? The bile duct injury could cause bile to leak into the abdomen. Or the bile duct injury could create a blockage in the gallbladder. Subsequently, this blockage can reduce the normal flow of bile. Bile duct injuries can cause excessive pain, and in some cases, can put the patient’s life at risk.
If you experienced a bile duct injury because of negligence in surgery, contact Medical Negligence Assist today to claim compensation.
What Are The Symptoms Of A Bile Duct Injury?
If you have a bile duct injury, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Feeling uncomfortable
- Jaundice (your skin and eyes appear yellow)
- The abdomen is swollen
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fever and chills
A bile duct injury can be life-threatening. So please seek immediate emergency medical treatment if you experience any of these symptoms after surgery.
Time Limits To Claim Gallstone Surgical Negligence
Is there a surgical negligence claims time limit in the United Kingdom? In England and Wales, claimants must abide by the Limitation Act 1980 when making a personal injury or medical negligence claim. That means claimants have 3 years in order to start a claim for personal injury or a breach in law. The day that you, the claimant suffered medical negligence is the beginning of the time limit. Alternatively, the day you become knowledgeable that medical negligence has caused avoidable harm can also be the start of the time limit. There are exceptions to the time limits. Our advisors are free 24 hours a day 7 days a week to take your call. They can advise how long left you have to start your claim.
Can you claim compensation on behalf of someone else? Yes, you can claim compensation if you are next of kin relative died because of medical negligence. Furthermore, you can claim compensation for a relative who is not mentally capable of claiming for themselves—for example, a parent who has dementia. If the gallstone surgical negligence claim is successful, the funds will give your relative the best quality of life in the future.
Gallstone Surgical Negligence Compensation Calculator
How much compensation is your gallbladder or gallstone surgery claim worth? You can use the table below to estimate approximately how much compensation your injuries could be valued at. However, the table only includes compensation for general damages payouts. It does not include compensation for any special damages compensation you could receive.
| Injury | Degree of Severity | Comments | Damages Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowel Injury | (D) | Severe abdominal injuries which cause bowel function to be impaired. The person could require a temporary colostomy. This could leave serious scars. There could also be effects which restrict diet and even employment. | £41,850 to £65,440 |
| Bowel Injury | (E) | A penetrating injury (such as which could happen during surgery) which causes permanent injuries. The person could eventually return to normal function. | £11,820 to £22,970 |
| Bladder Injury | (A) | Where the person is left with double incontinence (full loss of function) as well as other medical complications which could arise from this. | Up to £172,860 |
| Bladder Injury | (B) | Loss of bladder function and control | Up to £132,040 |
| Bladder Injury | (C) | Where the persons control and function has been impaired. There could also be incontinence and pain. | £60,050 to £75,010 |
| Bladder Injury | (D) | The person has almost completely recovered, though they could still have some long-term problems with natural bladder function. | £21,970 to £29,380 |
This compensation table is based on guidelines from the Judicial College. But please be aware that the amount of compensation you receive can vary. This depends on what type of injuries you have and how severe they are. For an accurate compensation claim estimate, call us today. And a medical negligence claims advisor can estimate how much money you can claim accurately.
What Special Damages Can You Claim?
If your gallbladder surgery medical negligence claim is successful, you will receive two heads of claim.
You will receive general damages, which is compensation for the detrimental effects of your injuries. Moreover, you will be paid special damages. This is compensation to reimburse you for any out of pocket expenses caused by your injuries. You can claim compensation for the following expenses:
- Medical expenses, such as the cost of corrective surgery.
- Travel expenses, for instance, the cost of travelling to hospital appointments.
- Care expenses. If a family member cared for you whilst you were injured, you can claim care expenses to compensate them.
- Loss of income reimbursement. This is compensation to pay you for any income lost if you were unable to work whilst injured.
No Win No Fee Gallstone Surgical Negligence Claims
You may be worried about the costs of hiring a solicitor especially when money might be tight as you have needed to take time away from work to recover. So why not consider using a solicitor that offers No Win No Fee terms. This means that you will not have to pay a solicitors fee before work on your claim begins. Instead, you will sign a Conditional Fee Agreement. This states that you will pay a success fee on the condition that your solicitor wins your claim. On the other hand, you will not be charged a success fee if your claim is unsuccessful.
Here are some of the reasons why you may prefer to make a No Win No Fee claim:
- Firstly, there is no upfront solicitors fee to pay. This means that it is more affordable for some claimants.
- Secondly, you will only pay a success fee if you win your claim.
- And finally, you will keep the majority of your compensation payout if you win. This is because your success fee is charged at a capped rate.
How Could We Help?
If you were injured because of mistakes in gallbladder surgery, we could help you start your claim for compensation. Medical Negligence Assist can provide you with skilled solicitors to handle your gallstone medical negligence claim. Our panel of solicitors have up to thirty years of experience handling claims. Moreover, your solicitor will assess your claim in-depth to ensure that you receive the correct amount of compensation. All claims taken on by our panel of solicitors will be funded using a No Win No Fee agreement.
We offer a free claims consultation to anyone interested in claiming compensation. Contact us today to speak to a claims advisor and begin your gallbladder surgery negligence claim.
- Call our helpline on 0800 652 3087.
- Or would you mind filling out our online compensation claims form?
- Or ask a question directly using the chat widget on your screen.
How Common Are Surgical Never Events?
How common are never events in the United Kingdom? There were 21 preventable incidents of the most serious category that occurred at private hospitals in 2019/20. An audit conducted by Private Healthcare Information Network PHIN showed that out of 595 private hospitals and NHS private units, 287 provided information on never events in 2019.
Source; https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-private-hospitals-outsourcing-never-events-safety-data-phin-latest-a9699751.html
Helpful Links
We hope that this gallstone surgical negligence guide has been helpful for you. We have also included some other guides about claiming compensation for medical negligence that you may find helpful.
How To Claim Compensation If An Operation Has Gone Wrong
Missed Diagnosis Of A Fracture Claims Guide
And here are some external resources that may be useful to you.
An NHS guide to gallstones
A guide to having keyhole surgery on your gallbladder, from the NHS.
Surgical Negligence FAQs
We will now answer some frequently asked questions about claiming compensation for medical negligence.
How often does gallbladder surgery go wrong?
There are no particular statistics for this.
What can go wrong in gallbladder surgery?
Here are some examples of uncommon possible complications arising from gallbladder surgery:
- A wound becomes infected
- A chest infection
- Bile leakage
- Excessive bleeding
- Wound numbness
- Tummy pain
- Indigestion
- Diarrhoea
- Temperature
- A patient has to have an open operation rather than the planned keyhole surgery.
- The patient suffers from pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Has anyone died from gallbladder surgery?
Again no particular statistics for deaths involving gallbladder surgery.
What happens if a gallstone is left after surgery?
If a gallstone is left in after surgery, the individual may develop cholecystitis. Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder.
Guide by Hana
Edited by LisM.