Last Updated on October 7, 2019 by Michelle Wan
Thousands of patients suffer complications or injury due to surgical and anesthesia error every year. If the patient is injured due to a surgical or anesthesia error the patient could recover damages from the negligent doctor or hospital. Unfortunately, medical malpractice in the operating room is more common than I realized.
Some causes of surgical error are incision errors, non-sterile equipment, leaving an instrument in the patient, poor pre-operative planning or care and surgeon inexperience or incompetence. Sadly, the most common surgical error is leaving a surgical instrument inside the body. The most common item that gets left in the patient is surgical sponges but other things such as hemostats, towels, scissors, etc. have also been left inside a patient. This could potentially cause serious damage such as infection or damage to the tissue. I know you’re asking yourself, is there not a protocol or a check-box system to make sure that all items used in surgery have been recovered from the patient prior to closure of the incision? Yes, there is a protocol, but the mistakes are still happening. Substandard after-care is another risk that surgery patients are experiencing. Deficiencies in post-operative care can cause infections, prolonged healing, sepsis, and some even require more surgery. Machines are often used during a procedure and these machines due to an oversight are causing burns, severe pain, loss of function to certain body parts, etc.
Anesthesia errors can be more dangerous than surgery errors. Some of these errors include but are not limited to administering too much anesthesia, failure to intubate properly, and failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs for signs of distress. Anesthesia errors can cause many different side effects. Side effects are cardiovascular collapse, blurred vision, serious spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis, etc. A research study conducted by The American Society of Anesthesiologists looking at closed medical malpractice claims showed that 45 percent of cases involved respiratory issues that resulted in brain damage and death of patients. This number is huge—45 percent—think about that number for a minute.If you or a family member is the victim of anything mentioned above please contact Thomas & Wan, LLP. We fight for justice for you and your family. At Thomas & Wan, LLP we make sure your voice is heard. Find comfort in knowing we have over 45 years of combined experience fighting and winning medical malpractice cases such as these. Don’t delay, there is a statute of limitations in Texas of 2 years from the date of the injury or death, so please call us today at 713-529-1177. Don’t let your time run out.
