A disturbing and dangerous trend is being revealed among surgeons who perform certain hernia procedures on patients in the United States and raises questions about the rights and options of patients who have been injured by the medical malpractice of their surgeons and doctors in New York City. According to a recent New York Times report, there is a recent and troubling surge in surgeons who perform component hernia surgeries on patients after having only received training for the “technically difficult and risky procedure” via online social media platforms Facebook and YouTube. Indeed, the New York Times notes that “Component separation must be practiced dozens of times to master…[b]ut one in four surgeons said they taught themselves how to perform the operation by watching Facebook and YouTube videos, according to a recent survey – part of a broader pattern of surgeons of all stripes learning new techniques on social media with minimal professional oversight.”
Use of cutting-edge robots to perform component separation hernia surgeries is one explanation for the surge in doctors training to do the procedure. However, another explanation for the recent rush of surgeons opting to learn component separation hernia surgeries may be due to the financial compensation that surgeons who can “perform” the procedure stand to gain. According to the New York Times, “…more than a dozen hernia surgeons pointed to another reason for the surging use of component separations: They earn doctors and hospitals more money. Medicare pays at least $2,450 for a component separation, compared with $345 for a simpler hernia repair. Private insurers, which cover a significant portion of hernia surgeries, typically pay two or three times what Medicare does.” There is a huge financial incentive for doctors to perform these surgeries, and money is a big motivator here.
As for Dr. Michael Rosen of Cleveland Clinic, the surgeon who helped popularize the component separation hernia repair procedure, fixing botched procedures now occupies a large portion of his surgery practice. Dr. Rosen noted to the Times that these days half of his operations are surgeries to attempt to fix other doctor’s mistakes.
Help for Medical Malpractice Victims in New York City
In New York City, when a patient is injured due to a doctor or surgeon’s negligence, as in the case of a botched hernia surgery, the patient may have rights and options to compensation under New York medical malpractice laws. Under New York medical malpractice laws, victims of doctor or surgeon medical malpractice may be entitled to money compensation for their injuries as a result of the negligently-performed procedure. There is a limited time to file a medical malpractice claim under New York laws, so it is important to speak with an experienced New York City medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible about your rights and options after you have been injured by your doctor or surgeon.
The experienced New York City medical malpractice lawyers at the law firm of Michael Gunzburg, P.C. offer a free and confidential consultation to learn about your medical malpractice case and to see if they can fight for you. Contact Michael Gunzburg, P.C. today and speak to an experienced lawyer about your rights and options for free.
Source:
nytimes.com/2023/10/30/health/hernia-surgery-component-separation.html