A surgery recommended for financial reasons instead of medical ones is not a judgment call, it’s a breach of trust. Corporate incentive structures inside modern hospital systems have made unnecessary and excessive surgery one of the more troubling patterns in American healthcare, and it is a pattern the Gilbert Law Firm has spent years investigating firsthand.
Our firm has taken on some of the largest medical negligence cases in the region, including RICO based class actions against two Washington hospital systems on behalf of hundreds of patients who underwent unnecessary, excessive, or otherwise improper spine surgeries. That work gave us a detailed look at how these incentive structures actually operate, and how to prove it in court.
If a surgeon pushed you toward a procedure you didn’t need, or a hospital’s billing incentives outweighed your actual care, you deserve a firm that has already fought this exact battle.
Our Washington Unnecessary Surgery Services
Healthcare providers are obligated to recommend treatment based on what a patient needs, not what generates the most revenue.
When a provider pressures a patient into surgery that isn’t medically necessary, or delivers care with reckless disregard for a patient’s safety, that provider should be held liable for the fraudulent substandard care.
Why Does This Happen?
Financial incentives can create real pressure on surgeons to operate more often, and on more complex cases, than a patient’s condition requires.
In one case our firm has litigated directly, a Washington neurosurgeon’s compensation package promised him significant additional pay for hitting certain surgical volume targets, an incentive federal prosecutors say factored into a pattern of unnecessary spinal surgery.
This is not an isolated concern. In a poll of surgeons themselves, 70.8% agreed that physicians are more likely to perform unnecessary procedures when they profit from them.
A Pattern We Have Litigated Directly
Gilbert Law Firm has represented hundreds of patients harmed by a documented pattern of unnecessary spine surgery performed by a Washington neurosurgeon across two hospital systems.
We encourage you to read more about this pattern of care in our coverage of spine surgery malpractice in Washington and our reporting on the neurosurgeon at the center of these cases.
What Our Washington Clients Say
Our Washington Unnecessary Surgery Case Process
- Step One – Tell Us About Your Surgery: Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll listen to your story and give you an honest assessment of whether your surgery may have been unnecessary.
- Step Two – We Investigate With Independent Medical Experts: Our firm has a track record of retaining independent surgeons, neuroradiologists, hospital administration experts, and medical ethics experts to review whether a surgery was medically justified.
- Step Three – We Make Them Answer For It: When we take an unnecessary surgery case, we go straight after the financial motive behind it, subpoenaing compensation records, surgical volume data, and internal hospital communications. Hospitals rarely volunteer this kind of information, so we make them produce it. We have gone up against some of the largest hospital systems in the country and made them pay real compensation for pushing patients into surgery they never needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as an unnecessary or excessive surgery?
An unnecessary surgery is a procedure that was not medically justified given the patient’s actual condition, including cases where a less invasive treatment would have worked as well, or where a provider recommended surgery for financial rather than medical reasons.
Why would a doctor recommend a surgery I don't actually need?
Financial incentives, including production based compensation structures, can create pressure to recommend and perform more procedures than a patient’s condition requires. Not every provider who does this is acting in bad faith, but the pattern is well documented in medical literature.
How common is unnecessary surgery in the United States?
Estimates vary by procedure and study, but research on spinal surgery specifically has found unnecessary procedure rates ranging from 17% to 50% depending on the study and time period.
Can I have a claim even though I consented to the surgery?
Yes, in many cases. Informed consent requires that a patient be given an accurate picture of whether a procedure is medically necessary and what the real risks and alternatives are. Consent obtained through incomplete or misleading information may not protect a provider from liability.
What's the difference between a bad outcome and an unnecessary surgery claim?
Medicine involves risk, and not every complication or poor outcome is the result of negligence. Medical malpractice requires proof that a provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care, not simply that the outcome was disappointing or unexpected. A plaintiff generally must establish that the healthcare provider failed to exercise the degree of care, skill, and learning expected of a reasonably prudent healthcare provider at that time and in the same or similar circumstances, and that this failure was a proximate cause of the injury.
Can a hospital be held responsible, not just the surgeon?
Yes. A hospital can be held liable if it knew, or should have known, about a pattern of unnecessary surgery and failed to act, in addition to any liability for the individual surgeon’s conduct.
How do I get a second opinion if I suspect a surgery wasn't necessary?
Consulting an independent physician who has no financial connection to the original provider or facility is one of the most effective ways to evaluate whether a recommended or completed surgery was medically necessary.
How long do I have to file a claim over an unnecessary surgery?
Generally, you have three years from the date of the injury, or one year from when you discover, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, whichever period is longer. There is also generally an eight-year statute of repose, though exceptions may apply in cases involving fraud, concealment, or a foreign object left in the body.
Get Started on Your Washington Unnecessary Surgery Case Today
No one should have to wonder whether their surgery was about their health or a hospital’s bottom line.
If something about your surgery never sat right with you, contact Gilbert Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation, and let us help you find out the truth.
Schedule a free consultation now to tell us about your case, or fill out the form:
