Auto Accident Law 101
Potential Malpractice Factors That May Result from a Skin Graft
Everett Cook
Patients can need skin graft procedures due to a number of different injuries, including burns and wounds sustained in automotive accidents. When you undergo a skin graft to correct a traumatized part of your body, skin from a different part of your body is carefully removed and placed in the needed area. Lots of skin grafts go as planned, but it's possible for there to be complications. If you've had problems that have resulted from your skin graft, you should consult a medical malpractice attorney. Depending on the nature of your situation, there could be grounds for a suit. Here are some problems that you may be dealing with.
Infection at the Damaged Site
Keeping infections at bay is one of the top priorities of your medical team. The area in which you need the skin graft is highly prone to infection because it may be large and open. While every medical team will take steps to reduce the risk of this area getting infected, problems can sometimes occur. If you develop a serious infection at the damaged site in the days following your skin graft, it's possible that your care team may need to remove the graft—something that prolongs your recovery and may cause additional pain.
Scarring at the Second Site
While your medical team will be careful to remove the healthy skin from elsewhere in your body, there's a possibility that you could end up with significant scarring where the skin was removed. The immediate problem is discomfort, but the long-term issue is the potential for emotional distress from how your body now looks. Given that emotional distress can be a key element in a medical malpractice case, this is definitely an issue to discuss with your attorney.
Lack of Realism after Graft
You want your skin graft to look as realistic as possible; ideally, you'll be able to look at the site of your original injury and not be able to discern that you had a skin graft. While it can take some time to reach this state, it may be apparent after a certain point that the affected area doesn't really match the surrounding skin. For example, the graft site could have a slight different color, or the graft could be tighter than the surrounding skin. For each of these issues, a discussion with a medical malpractice attorney will indicate whether you should move forward legally.
Share
After being involved in a serious auto accident with a drunk driver, I struggled heavily with getting the driver's insurance company to open a claim. When the insurance company started pushing back, I knew I needed to do something. I spent a lot of time digging through the laws surrounding auto accident claims so that I knew what my legal rights were. I even talked with an auto accident attorney. I created this site to teach others about what I learned, including my court experience. I hope it helps you to determine how you should proceed with your auto accident case.