Patient Alleges Hip Replacement was Negligent

A woman diagnosed with degenerative arthritis underwent a total hip arthroplasty that left her with extensive complications due to the alleged actions of her physician. During a checkup after the procedure, she was noted to have a hematoma, though the doctor claimed that there was no sign of infection and recommended only observation unless there was absolutely no improvement. After the second post-op checkup, the patient claimed her hematoma had not been looked into even though she had been complaining of pain and swelling on her right hip. Nearly four months after her surgery, the patient’s primary care physician ordered an ultrasound revealing that multiple different varieties of fluids had collected in the hematoma, resulting in a brown substance that had to be removed with an aspiration extraction. She eventually had to undergo an evacuation, irrigation of the hip, and removal of all of the surrounding dead tissue. At time time of trial, she still claimed to suffer from nerve damage and required extensive antibiotic therapy.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please briefly describe your professional expertise with relation to this case.

Expert Witness Response E-013747

I routinely treat patients like the one in this case, and have lectured and published on infection and total hip arthroplasty. I have never had a patient develop the complications described in this case, and I have reviewed other cases of similar scenarios where the consequences were not as severe.