Taking legal action for a surgery error can be a complex matter. Surgical errors which result in serious inury or death of the patient can be due to the negligence of a physician, hospital and/or medical related personnel, for which a surgery malpractice case can exist.
How Surgical Errors Arise
Surgical errors can arise in a variety of ways. Initially, a surgical error can arise due to a deviation from the appropriate method of performing the operation. Moreover, surgical errors can occur when a physician or other medical staff are under the influence of alcohol or another substance which impairs their medical judgment. Finally, a surgical error can result due to a mistake of the physician or medical staff.
Common Surgery Errors
Some common surgery errors include the following:
- administration of wrong blood type
- surgery on the incorrect body part, organ or site
- incorrect procedure or surgery on the patient
- incorrect administration of anesthesia
- surgery on the wrong patient
- medical instrument or device left inside a patient's body
Elements of a Case
Generally, in order to assert a case based upon surgery malpractice, there must be several components present:
- the physician did not abide by the standard of care
- the injury resulted due to the physician’s negligence
- the seriousness of the injury rises to the level of a lawsuit
Compensation for Surgical Error
If one seeks to recover damages for a surgical error and surgery malpractice, there are various types of expenses which can be included. Every jurisdiction has different requirements as to what can be included as damages. However, most jurisdictions include the following as compensable damages:
