Can I Sue an ENT for Giving Me Tinnitus?

[EarQuestions]

Hello, I had a question for the people on this board. A few years ago, I was having problems with one of my ears. In that ear the eustachian tube drainage is bad and this has, over the years, led to ruptures of the ear drum; many years ago the ear drum was successfully repaired with surgery. On the most recent occasion, I consulted an ENT who recommended a tympanoplasty and a mastoidectomy. I got some sort of infection in the ear after the surgery.

But regardless, I came out of the surgery with a ringing in my ear that nearly two years later has not gone away. I also have significant hearing loss above 2000 hz.

So my question is, can I sue the doctor? Looking at the surgery notes there don't seem to be any obvious mistakes that were made.

Still, the surgery and its aftermath clearly led to both the hearing loss and the tinnitus. I had neither problem before the surgery.

What do you think?

 

[grotulon]

Depends if those were part of the risks of the surgery

 

[The Red Viper]

It depends on whether there was true informed consent and whether the doctor acted within the standard of care. Either way it'll be a tough road ahead, and for what? What amount of money will make you whole again? It's not like somebody crashed into your house or stole your car... money can replace those things. What will money do here? Will it be purely punitive? Sure some cash can cover your pain and suffering, but what you want... what we all want is for the T to go away. You need to ask yourself that first. A lawsuit is great if your problem can be fixed with money. If not, then you need to re-evaluate things.