Iud Not Put In Properly

[Adoerte]

A year ago my wife had an IUD put in after our daughter was born. A month or two later my wife was having abdominal pain and cramping. She kept putting it off, but she wondered if it had something to do with the IUD. She took a pregnancy test to see if that had anything to do with  the cramps. Not pregnant. Finally after 8 or 9 months i convinced her to go in. They did an Xray and said they couldn't see the IUD and told her to come back for an ultrasound sometime. Today she got the ultrasound and they found it outside of her uterus. The ultrasound tech said the doctor did it wrong. She said with the type of uterus she has it should have been put in using an ultrasound to guide it to get it in right(which her doctor didn't do) The ultrasound tech said the without a ultrasound to guide it, the doctor was just taking a shot in the dark and because of that she is now going to have to have surgery to have it removed. We have a high deductible insurance policy so the first 4,000 is out of pocket... Do we have a possible case for a lawsuit to cover the surgery expenses and the pain she has been in for a year?

[Harrell]

I actually have a long background in IUD cases, having handled hundreds of Dalkon Shield cases back in the 80s and over the past few years, have fielded a couple hundred Paraguard and Mirena IUD inquiries. Here's the problem: the Dalkon had clearly identified defects that led to uterine infections, infertility, ectopics, hysterectomies, etc. It became the subject of a huge class action case that was very successful. The later IUDs and no doubt the type your wife has have not been found to have such defects. I am not the final authority on the subject of course, I am not a gyn, but I can't say I have heard of inserting and IUD with use of an ultrasound. I am sure it could be useful but my unofficial opinion is, the "standard of care" does not require it. And the "standard of care" is what applies in a medical malpractice case. Using an ultrasound would be the "gold standard" I suppose but I am sure it far exceeds what the "standard" is and the doctor is only held to that standard. Furthermore, all IUDs can move around and then due to normal contractions of the uterus, sometimes get squeezed through the wall of the uterus. That is not a rare occurence and can happen even if the IUD is placed in the most careful fashion. Finally, even if the nurse was right.....and I don't think she was....it was hindsight on her part.........the relatively simple surgery to remove the IUD does not present sufficient dollar damages to make a lawsuit viable. Unless permanent and serious damage occurs and the damages are well into the 6 figures, the cost and work involved in a malpractice case would not be justified, at least from the lawyer's point of view.  Best bet is the ask the doc for some consideration by doing the surgery for free. Doubt he would agree but you can ask. When you do, he will probably say it wasn't his fault, he did the insertion according the the standard, and that this is just one of the risk of using an IUD. Research the published risks of this particular IUD and you will see that uterine perforation is listed and I would be says nothing about using ultrasound for insertion. Hope this helps.