Dealing With Anesthesia Administration Errors
Anesthesia errors are common in the healthcare industry and pose a significant human and financial cost. Even with the highs standards of safe anesthetist drugs, anesthesiologists continue to make errors.
If anesthesia errors have harmed your or your loved one, this may result to increased morbidity or mortality that may lead to a prolonged stay in the hospital, hence increasing the cost of treatment. When this happens, the only solution would be to file a medical malpractice claim.
This guide contains some of the most common anesthesia errors and what must be proven for potential litigation.
Anesthesia Errors
An error of one moment may bring sorrow to your entire life. Even a small error can result in a permanent disability. Anesthesia errors may be more severe than those of other specialties. If it is determined that the anesthesiologists failed to perform the exercise as intended, then the only solution would be to seek legal recourse with the help of the best attorneys and law firms in Wasilla Ak. Some of the anesthesia errors that may lead to medical malpractice include:
- Failure to conduct a thorough investigation of the patients’ medical history. When history is conducted, the specialist can detect any complication that may stop any surgical procedures.
- Failure to inform the patient of possible risks associated with the procedure being conducted. For instance, a patient who takes food or drinks some few minutes or hours before surgery may develop complications such as vomiting, which could be fatal.
- Improper intubation where the anesthesiologist places endotracheal tube to allow the flow of oxygen to disturbed airways. If this is not done correctly, it can lead to serious problems such as nerve damage, brain damage in case of lack of oxygen, damage to vocal cords. Similarly, wrong extubation may also lead to the said complications.
- Too little or too much dosage. This can lead to a patient waking up before the end of surgery, or can result in a coma respectively. Not only are anesthesiologists responsible for the administration of drugs but should also monitor such patient during surgery.
- Use of faulty equipment or misuse of equipment. If anesthesiologist failed to properly check the anesthesia machine before use, and especially between cases, this might cause a serious error.
Anesthesia errors may depend on the nature of the medical procedure that was carried. Thus, you may need a medical expert to testify of your injuries depending on the procedure you undergo.
Proving Anesthesia For Medical Malpractice
Showing that medical malpractice happened due to the above reasons may be challenging. You may need to hire a medical malpractice lawyer who can help you prove that:
- There the anesthesiologist was negligent: The specialist care may not be required to be the best, but he/she should conduct such work in a reasonably skillful and careful manner. Whether this could be an issue in your case can only be determined by an experienced medical expert.
- Due to negligence, you suffered injuries: For instance, if the error was due to improper extubation, you can show your vocal cord was paralyzed. Your injuries have to be specific. You have to show what you suffered from due to the anesthesia error. For instance, you can prove that you suffered from mental anguish, more pain, and this led to additional medical bills. There are tons of injuries to show with the help of a medical malpractice lawyer.
But where death occurs, this can be a tough situation. Sometimes, it’s hard to prove that anesthesia errors caused death. The reason is that the patient was already sick when the surgery was being conducted. Here there will be a question of whether the anesthesiologist was negligent in causing the death rather than the health complication the patient was suffering from.
Why You Need A Medical Malpractice Lawyer
When rules and knowledge lacks, mistakes occur. It’s impossible for a layman to prove that an anesthesiologist was negligent in causing them harm. Your lawyer is better positioned to hire an expert medical witness who can figure out what may have gone wrong during anesthesia process. In this case, you may wonder whether to place blame on the anesthesiologist of the hospital. A clear explanation for this is that it depends on the type of contract between the hospital and the anesthesiologist. In such a case, your lawyer can explain whether to file a claim against the anesthesiologist, hospital, or both parties. The hospital may be held liable for employing an incomplete anesthesiologist.
In summary, your lawyer can help you:
- Negotiate with the insurance company
- Know the best possible award
- Hasten the claim process
Where death is involved, you can file a wrongful death claim. You should be careful to hire a lawyer who has broad experience in medical malpractice claims and has handled claims based on anesthesia errors. This is vital since medical malpractice rules vary from state to state. This way, you can be assured of getting the best outcome for your case.