What Are My Legal Options If My Thumb Surgery Site Gets Infected in Florida?

Attorney Answer

An infected, exposed suture after thumb surgery is a medical problem first and a legal one second, so the most urgent step is getting back in front of a doctor right away, whether that is your surgeon or an emergency room. Infection at a surgical site can spread quickly, and prompt treatment also creates the medical record you would need for any legal claim later.

Once you are being treated, there are two different legal questions worth sorting out, and which one applies depends on facts not mentioned here.

If the original thumb injury was someone else's fault If the tendon injury that led to this surgery happened because of a car accident, a fall on someone else's property, a workplace incident, or another person's negligence, complications from treating that injury, including a failed graft or rejected suture, are usually still part of the damages in that original personal injury claim. For accidents that happened after March 2023, Florida generally gives you two years from the date of the accident to file a negligence lawsuit under Florida Statute 95.11. Florida shortened this deadline in 2023, so it is important to confirm the exact deadline for your situation with a Florida attorney. Workplace injuries follow separate workers' compensation rules and deadlines instead.

If the surgery itself was done improperly If the suture failure and infection resulted from how the surgery was performed rather than your body's normal healing response, that could raise a medical malpractice question. Florida requires specific presuit steps before a malpractice claim can be filed, including a notice of intent to the provider and a corroborating opinion from a qualified medical expert, and the claim generally must be brought within two years of when you knew or should have known about the injury, under Florida Statute 95.11. These cases are technical and time sensitive, so do not wait to get an opinion.

What to do now 1. Get medical attention for the infection immediately. 2. Request and keep copies of your surgical and follow-up records. 3. Photograph the affected area as it changes over time. 4. Write down a timeline of the original injury, the surgery, and when problems started. 5. Talk to a Florida personal injury or medical malpractice attorney soon, since some deadlines start running from the original incident.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. A local Florida attorney can review your medical records and the circumstances of your injury to tell you what claims, if any, may apply.