Anesthesia Error: Is My Doctor Liable for Malpractice?

Anesthesia is utilized by physicians and other health professionals in order to make a patient desensitized to or unaware of pain in order to perform surgery or other medical treatment. Anesthesia can be general, regional or local.  General anesthesia occurs by injection of medication into the veins, or by breathing the medication into the lungs.  During general anesthesia, the patient is unconscious but is monitored and may require assistance breathing with a tube.  Regional anesthesia is utilized to block sensation in a certain area of the body.  This type of anesthesia involves an injection into nerves which send pain messages to the brain. The patient is awake but does not feel pain. Spinal and epidural types are the most common forms of regional anesthesia.  Finally, local anesthesia is when a numbing agent is used to block pain.  Patients are completely awake but remain pain free.

Anesthesia Malpractice Topics

1. How Does Anesthesia Malpractice Happen?
2. What are the Risks and Dangers of Anesthesia?
3. Implications of Anesthesia Errors
4. Filing a Lawsuit Against a Doctor
5. When to Talk to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
   

How Anesthesia Malpractice Happens

Medical malpractice cases based upon anesthesia can arise in various ways.  Initially, physician mistake may result in malpractice.  For example, if the use of an anesthetic is contraindicated but the anesthesiologist utilizes the medication anyway, the patient could have serious injury or die as a result of the error.  Moreover, giving a patient an incorrect dosage of medication can result in malpractice.  Additionally, failure to monitor the patient’s vital signs during surgery or a medical procedure can lead to malpractice.  Also, if a physician does not obtain the patient’s former medical history, this could result in medical malpractice.  Furthermore, liability may be incurred due to the use of defective equipment while administering anesthesia.  For instance, if an oxygen machine fails to deliver oxygen to a patient while undergoing surgery, the patient could incur cardiac arrest.  In addition, failure to inform the patient of the proper pre-surgical preparation and improper intubation may result in medical malpractice.

Risks and Dangers

In the event that anesthesia is improperly utilized, various injuries may occur.  Common injuries include:

• Permanent injury, such as paralysis
• Brain damage
• Heart attack
• Collapsed Lung
• Nerve damage
• Damage to extremities
• Cerebral Palsy
• Death

Implications of Anesthesia Errors

When a patient undergoing anesthesia incurs injury or death, there may be underlying medical malpractice.  Additionally, medical malpractice based upon anesthesia is not limited to the actual administration of the drug.  Malpractice may also occur at a pre-operative or post-operative stage.  For instance, failure to monitor a patient in the recovery room after undergoing general anesthesia could be the basis for a lawsuit. Furthermore, a patient may have a potential law suit against not only a physician, but also the hospital or facility where the medical treatment occurred.  In such an instance, nurses, technical assistants and other personnel may be implicated in the malpractice lawsuit.

Filing a Lawsuit Against a Doctor

In the event that you believe that an injury you have sustained during anesthesia was based upon medical malpractice, you may contemplate filing a law suit.  Frequently, with medical malpractice cases involving the use of anesthesia, it may be difficult to obtain evidence of the malpractice in order to prove your case.  One reason for this problem is due to the fact that the patient is frequently unaware at the time of the injury due to the anesthesia, so the patient is not a witness to the actual malpractice.  Additionally, medical records are the usual form of evidence, which may be incomplete or perhaps, in the worst case, altered by an unethical individual.  Moreover, there usually is no medical record generated during the surgery itself to rely upon.  These evidentiary issues may complicate the legal matter.

When to Talk to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When contemplating the filing of a medical malpractice case arising out of the use of anesthesia, it is important to consult with an experienced attorney.  Not only can this attorney evaluate your claim, but also the attorney can determine the likelihood of success of your claim.  In addition, an experienced medical malpractice attorney in the area of anesthesia malpractice possesses the requisite level of expertise to correlate the injury with the type of damages recoverable.  For instance, compensatory damages may be available.  This type of damages is intended to compensate the patient for the injury.  In addition, punitive damages may be available as a remedy.  Punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and seek to prevent further similar occurrences of the malpractice.  An experienced attorney can assess how the physician’s actions contributed to the severity of the injury.  Moreover, you may have alternative legal options you are unaware of, and the attorney can assist you in identifying these options.  Finally, an experienced attorney will be aware of the current medical and legal trends and be able to manage your case accordingly.