Placenta Left Inside Wife After Childbirth

[Milo]

Ten months ago my wife gave birth to our only child via c-section.  Present at the birth were two OB Docs.  A few weeks after, she went for a check up and was given a good bill of health by a third Dr.  Approximately ten weeks after the c-section, my wife continued to have spotting and encountered severe back pain. She went to the Dr and was examined when the Dr told her that there was something inside of her.  She was told to push and soon after delivered what the Dr identified as a fist sided portion of her placenta.  The placenta was sent for examination and confirmed that it was the placenta.  My wife's pain almost immediately subsided.  My quetion is does she have a case of medical malpractice?  Thank you.

[Roche]

In order for a lawyer to take in interest in a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff(patient) must have an injury resulting fromn the medical care. If your wife has no further problems from this retained placenta then she has no injury.

Yes, this is malpractice. Especially when you think that in a Caesarean section the uterus is open to view. Those two obstetricians must have been in an awful hurry to have allowed this to happen. But, malpractice actions are torts and like any tort must have the three essentials, negligence causing an injury. So, watch your wife for the next few months. If any serious problems arise in her reproductive organs, then see a lawyer. Otherwise enjoy your baby and forget the episode.