Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in California

Unnecessary surgery was performed on my 78 yr old father after we requested postponement (because the anesthesiologist called me at home the morning of surgery to warn me of the danger to my dad). The surgery was to replace an infected graft where my father had an abdominal aortic aneurysm repaired years ago.

The surgeon called me the day after surgery and told me the graft was not infected after all, in fact it was holding good. However, another graft my father had sewn in his groin looked like it might start leaking someday, so he replaced that one instead. Approximately 10 days later while at a nursing facility across from the hospital, he needed 2 units of blood because the groin incision was bleeding. The nurse told me his surgeon had gone on vacation. The next day, I went to visit DAD but he was gone - they took him across the street to the emergency room because it (incision in the groin) was bleeding again (or still). He was brought back the same night. 3 days later, I went to visit him again and he was gone to the emergency room. I went over to the ER but waited outside the room he was in while he had a CAT scan. While waiting, an ER doctor told me my father was losing blood from the incision in his groin and shortly after his arrival in the ER, the loss of blood caused a sudden drop in blood pressure, causing my father to go into shock and then cardiac arrest. The doctor said they performed CPR on him for 10 minutes before reviving him, but he was on the ventilator and would not survive through the night. He died about 3 hours later.

Note: At first, the vascular surgeon did not want to do the surgery due to my dad's poor condition along with the fact that he was required to take blood thinner because he had stents placed in his heart 8 months ago. The doctor said my father�s infected aortic graft could be treated with a lifetime of antibiotic therapy (although not the preferred treatment). Why he suddenly changed his mind and opted to do surgery, I do not know.

Q: Do I have any legal recourse for the loss of my father? He may have been 78 years old, but he wanted to live until he was 95 and he should not have bled to death in a hospital 2 weeks after surgery that was not wanted, nor needed. Why couldn't the surgeon see what the anesthesiologist saw?

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