Doctors have what is known as a “duty of care” to their patients. Because of this duty, patients turn to their doctors for medical advice and rely on their doctors to make recommendations that are in their best interests. It is understandable that patients place greater weight on a recommendation by a doctor than on advice from other people, even family members. After all, doctors not only have medical expertise, but they are bound by professional ethics to strive not to harm a patient.
Some physicians’ actions are glaringly harmful and are obvious medical malpractice, like those of an anesthesiologist who shows up to work intoxicated and administers the wrong dose of medicine before surgery. Most of the time, whether a doctor’s conduct constitutes medical malpractice is less clear.
One such gray area is when a doctor recommends or administers a course of treatment that is not strictly necessary. Are unnecessary medical procedures medical malpractice? They can be, but the answer depends very much on the facts of the situation.
Most doctors do want and intend to do what’s right for their patients. Even so, unnecessary medical procedures are not uncommon, and they can be costly, both in terms of finances and patient health. Exact numbers of unnecessary procedures performed in the United States each year are hard to come by, perhaps because the question of whether a procedure is “necessary” is not always clear.
A 2017 study in the Journal of Patient Safety in Surgery identified 79 cases of unnecessary treatment and discovered a number of reasons for unnecessary, often invasive, medical procedures in those cases.
The primary motivation identified by the study, present in 92.4% of the cases identified, was financial gain. For instance, one physician was found to have billed in excess of a million dollars for unnecessary spinal fusion surgeries—and that’s just one physician. It’s not hard to understand why a doctor would recommend a lucrative procedure, especially if there was some arguable or possible benefit to the patient.
The second most frequently identified motive for an unnecessary medical procedure, perhaps surprisingly, was the doctor displaying characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. Evidence of that personality disorder was found in almost half the cases studied. Poor problem solving skills, including poor knowledge of applicable standards of practice and deficient clinical skills, were present in over 10% of cases studied.
Other motives found for recommending and performing needless treatment included physician ambition, mental illness, and carelessness. Since the cases studied represent only a small sample of all unnecessary procedures, there are likely other reasons for needless surgery as well, such as patient request, or a doctor’s fear of later being accused of inaction.
The cases in the study had to meet certain criteria for inclusion, and it was clearly identified that those cases involved unnecessary, invasive medical interventions. But as we’ve mentioned, it’s not always so clear cut. What do you do if you think your doctor performed an unnecessary procedure on you, and what are your rights?
It can be hard to tell if a surgery was “unnecessary.” Usually, some investigation is required to determine whether a surgery was performed unnecessarily.
Some types of surgery are more commonly performed without a genuine need than others. A good example is Caesarian sections, better known as C-sections. Nearly one-third of American births are C-sections; the World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested that C-sections should constitute only 10-15% of births (some other organizations say that C-section is appropriate in up to 19% of births).
While C-section rates have risen dramatically in the United States in the last fifty years, there has not been a corresponding rise in infant survival rates. That means that it is likely that many women are having a risky procedure that, at a minimum, lengthens their recovery time, for no real benefit. Many people believe that the increase in C-sections is due to a desire for OB/GYN convenience; non-emergency C-sections are easy to schedule; vaginal births are typically not.
Some of the other procedures often performed when not necessary or beneficial:
While the surgeries listed are some of the most common to be performed unnecessarily, they are not the only ones. If you believe you had a surgery that was not needed, and you suffered harm as a result, you should speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
You may not be sure whether your surgery was truly needed or not. If it was unnecessary, but you don’t pursue a malpractice claim within the statute of limitations, you lose your right to bring your claim forever.
There is no charge for a consultation with a medical malpractice attorney. An experienced attorney will listen to the facts of your case, identify whether there may be a claim, and if so, investigate further. Often one of the most relevant facts in a case regarding unnecessary surgery is whether your doctor could have tried other, less-invasive treatments, or therapies with a higher likelihood of success. In other words, was performing the procedure consistent with the standard of care?
Your attorney will explore the strengths and weaknesses of a potential claim with you, and advise you of your options. To learn more about your rights in the event you were subjected to unnecessary treatment, contact The Fraser Law Firm to schedule a consultation.
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