Common Surgical Errors: When To Sue For Injuries

Common Surgical Errors: When To Sue For Injuries  

Believe it or not, the most common surgical errors happen not on the most complex of operations, but on the most-performed procedures. Even when the surgery itself is successful, a lot can happen post-procedure. Medical negligence and other factors can lead to long-lasting health concerns for the patient.

How does one know when to sue for damages when medical surgical malpractices occur? Here's some common surgical errors: when to sue for injuries:

1. Nerve Damage

Your surgeon could have been focused on bringing you back to optimal health, but chances are he or she could be opening up a whole slew of medical problems. Scalpels are razor sharp and can cause incorrect incisions where the operation is occurring. It can lead to nerve damage and punctured lungs, which can lead to disability, constant pain and suffering.

2. Administering Anesthesia Incorrectly

Anesthesia is used in many surgical procedures, but some of the most common errors involve mix-ups, which can have potentially fatal effects. Too much anesthesia, and the patient may be left with too little oxygen to function. This can cause brain damage and eventually, death. Too little anesthesia, and the patient could be awake the entire time and experience extreme pain.

3. Wrong Side Surgery

You may not believe it, but wrong side surgery happens frequently each year in hospitals all over the United States. A procedure where a patient had his healthy kidney removed, while the diseased kidney was left to fester in the body happened just recently. In one hospital, a man had a wrong leg amputated by a careless doctor.

4. Wrong Patient Surgery

There were cases where doctors incorrectly operated for the wrong procedure. Errors like this are caused by poor hospital protocol, general lack of communication between the patient and surgeon and an absence of pre-operative verification. The usual cases include removal of perfectly healthy organs and when patients don't get the surgery they were admitted for.

5. Foreign Object Infection

Would you believe that doctors can sometimes forget and leave clamps, gauze or scalpels in the patient's body after a successful operation? This could potentially result in severe bodily infections, excruciating pain and can even be fatal for the patient. This can certainly be prevented with a standard material checklist.

Mistakes are understandable because we are only human, but in cases where life and death are on the line, the surgeons must be held accountable. If you have been a victim of a surgical error, then it is within your right to sue for damages. Call an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who can help you with your right to be compensated for your suffering, pain or loss of income.

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