Unneeded Surgery

When is surgery medically unnecessary?

When surgery is required, it can be lifesaving. However, many doctors push their patients to get unneeded medical procedures. Surgery is unnecessary when there is another option for treatment, when it is not in the patient’s best interest, or when it is not relevant to their illness. 

An example of unneeded surgery would be a patient with cancer being told to have their appendix removed, even though it was not cancerous. The doctor may frame this as preventative or claim that it relates to your illness. If it does not, and you undergo the surgery, you will have suffered pain and financial costs for no reason.

How common are unneeded surgeries?

Americans may never truly know the number of unneeded surgeries done every year. The figures that do exist represent the small amount of the population who determined that their surgery was unneeded and sued for it.

It is estimated that 11% of surgeries that occur every year in the United States are unnecessary. Of this 11%, some will go on to live without complications. But others can suffer life-changing consequences that may prove fatal.

Most Common Unneeded Surgeries

The most common surgeries that are done unnecessarily by doctors are often related to misdiagnoses and unneeded surgery. These are surgeries that may be done because a doctor said that your symptoms were caused by an illness you do not have.

In the United States, the most common unneeded surgeries are:

• Pacemakers
• Spinal surgery
• Knee surgery
• Hip replacements
• C-section surgery
• Tonsillectomy
• Hysterectomy
• Heart stents
• Radical Prostatectomy

Causes of Unneeded Surgeries

Unnecessary surgeries can always be avoided.

Surgeons have extensive training to know what surgeries are required and what aren’t. If they perform unnecessary surgery, it is almost always due to doctor negligence.

Our clients have often been told that their unnecessary surgery was caused by surgical training and common procedures. For example, a doctor who has always done appendectomies when someone has abdominal pain may continue to do so even if it is not a safe or encouraged practice.

This excuse allows doctors to continue performing old techniques that can put patients’ lives at risk.

Surgeons may also knowingly perform unneeded surgeries to improve their reputation or to earn more money.

There is a professional incentive to do more surgeries. Hospitals put pressure on them to complete a certain number of surgeries each day to meet a minimum caseload that will bring in more money for the hospital.

Alternatively, they could be seeking to boost their reputation by performing many surgeries. This helps hone their skills, but it is unnecessary if a patient does not actually need the procedure.

If you have been given unneeded surgery due to these reasons, you should speak to an unneeded surgery attorney immediately.

Injuries from Unneeded Surgeries

Surgeries always come with a risk, regardless of whether or not they are unnecessary. However, we choose to take on these risks when we know that the surgery will have a benefit for us. If the surgery does not offer a benefit, most individuals would not willingly take the risk.

Sometimes things go wrong, even in routine surgeries. People can die under anesthesia for even minor procedures.

Unneeded surgery victims face:

• Bleeding
• Infection
• Financial injuries due to the medical costs
• Stroke
• Paralysis
• Death