Can I sue my doctor for dilating a stricture without my permission?

This doctor extorted me into getting a colonoscopy i did not want to get before he would allow me to switch drugs. Then, even though I have active inflammation and i repeatedly told him not to go in if you can't get it in, he dilated my rectal stricture in order to force the camera in.

He never asked my permission. He never came to me beforehand and said "hey, is it ok if i dilate the stricture to get further into your colon?" I WOULD HAVE SAID NO.

Now, exactly why i didn't want to have my stricture dilated, I cannot poop anymore. He took a bad situation and made it a lot worse. I cannot relieve myself at all now. I am uncomfortable the entire day because i can't empty my bowels because my stricture has swelled up to the point where hardly anything can pass through. And i am now soiling myself at night. I am incontinent now when i sleep at night. This has infuriated me because i specifically told him not to force it in if he can't get in and its like he completely forgot what i told him. I knew exactly what was going to happen when he told me what he did after the procedure.

Post Edited (Poppysocks) : 1/21/2021 5:37:57 AM (GMT-7)

EruditePaul,


Thanks for the detailed response. I am very frustrated about this so its partially me just venting. But I am unsure of how to check his past claims. He is young, about 38 years old so i don't think he's had much time to screw up.

He also basically admitted that the only way it gets worse is if you have active inflammation. Well, I have active inflammation. Its just frustrating he dilated it when i was already in poor shape. Now i am in very bad shape and always uncomfortable.

But going through a lawsuit would probably zap me if energy I simply don't have at this point.

73monte said...
No expert here, and I'm in Canada, so unfamiliar with medical/surgical procedures in the U.S. Outside of a diagnostic, I would think that dilation being a procedure would require a waiver to be signed by you before hand. I think you would need to have a consult with a lawyer though to find out if your Dr. acted outside the line of acceptability.

Is there any chance though that this procedure could be of any help to you as thing settle down a bit in the coming days or weeks?

Really hope things improve for you soon. Keep us posted.

I don't think the procedure will be of any benefit. The best I can hope for is for things to settle down to what they were before I had the procedure. In theory, it makes sense that this would happen as long as I don't do anything to encourage more inflammation. But it's been a few weeks now and things aren't getting better.

straydog said...
Poppy Socks, you can check out a dr by going to your state's medical board's website. Another good source is HealthGrades & RateMDS. In my state HealthGrades will show if a dr has ever had any type of a claim, however, not all states allow this. Regardless, you can check out your state board.

I hope things calm down for you soon, if not you may need to discuss getting some rectal meds for a short time.

Thank you for these website recommendations. I've already started using them.