Modern medical professionals can provide a variety of different treatment options to those with significant health concerns. There are prescription medications that can help with everything from blood sugar management to severe infections. There are also a variety of therapeutic options available for those with injuries and illnesses, including surgical operations.
A surgery can lead to the best possible outcome for someone with joint issues or cardiac problems, for example. However, surgeries can also go wrong, leading to complications for a patient. Some of those failed surgeries may involve medical malpractice. These are three of the most common issues during surgery that might lead to grounds upon which patients can file malpractice lawsuits.
Anesthesia mistakes
An anesthesiologist undergoes rigorous training to safely render someone unconscious or unable to feel pain. There are a variety of different medications that anesthesiologist can utilize, and they need to choose the best options given the procedure someone will undergo and their personal medical history. Unfortunately, anesthesiologists can make mistakes such as mixing up two drugs or administering the wrong dose, which could very well lead to tragic consequences.
Mistakes regarding the procedure itself
A surprising number of surgical errors involve major mistakes on the part of the medical professionals performing the surgery. Surgeons may make mistakes by performing a procedure on the wrong side of the body or the wrong body part. Sometimes, they may confuse their patients and perform the wrong procedure on a patient. Such errors can lead to catastrophic consequences for the patient, possibly including death or future ineligibility for the treatment that they should receive.
Retained foreign bodies
Surgeons usually have multiple professionals assisting them in the operating room, which should mean that oversights and gross errors are non-issues. However, surgeons across the country leave items inside patients while closing up their incisions with surprising frequency. The objects left behind in someone’s body could include clamps and scalpels that present an immediate risk of physical injury to a patient’s body. They might also leave behind sponges or gauze that could cause severe infection if not removed quickly.
Surgical errors can be very expensive to correct and can drastically affect someone’s long-term prognosis. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is a reasonable response to the realization that a surgeon or anesthesiologist has made a major mistake while providing patient care and caused harm as a result.