Patients are asked to sign a consent form before any type of surgical procedure, both invasive and noninvasive. That form should detail all the risks associated with the procedure. It is a kind of “worst-case scenario” that lets the patient know what might happen. Signing the consent form means you assume that risk. However, it doesn’t give your surgeon or medical team the right to be negligent. When something goes wrong through an act of negligence, you’re involved in a situation where the counsel of an experienced Louisville surgical error lawyer can prove to be invaluable.
Thomas Law Offices have helped many clients deal with these types of unfortunate incidents. We work diligently to find a fair and reasonable solution to help compensate for all your potential losses.
Understanding a Surgical Error
If you are making a complaint against a medical practitioner for making a medical mistake, it helps to start with understanding the definition of a surgical error. This is how the National Library of Medicine defines these issues:
“A surgical error is an unintentional, preventable injury occurring in the perioperative period that is not considered a known acceptable risk of surgery and could have been avoided by following appropriate procedure-specific training protocols.”
A surgical error can extend beyond the actions of the actual surgeon. Here are some common examples of surgical errors:
- Wrongful procedure or amputation of an incorrect limb
- Performing an unnecessary surgery
- Reckless disregard for a patient’s or their family’s wishes
- Anesthesia errors
- Improper handling and sanitizing of surgical tools
- Failure to preserve an airway during surgery
- Not monitoring the patient before, during, and after a surgical procedure
- Failure to diagnose a hospital-acquired infection
- Leaving a foreign object inside the body
- Incomplete information was provided to the patient about the risks and potential complications
How Often Do Surgical Errors Occur?
There are thousands of surgical procedures that occur each day with positive outcomes for the patients. However, according to the American College of Surgeons (ACS), in 2022, wrong-site surgery incidents accounted for 6% of all surgical errors. Of those wrong-site surgery incidents, the ACS also found the following facts:
- The median age of patients was 55.7 years.
- The average indemnity was $136,452.84, resulting in approximately 60% of settled cases.
- The top services responsible for wrong-site surgery claims were orthopedics (35.3%), neurosurgery (22.1%), and urology (8.8%).
The most common types of procedures that involved wrong-site surgery were spine surgery, including spinal fusion and excision of intervertebral disc (22.1%), arthroscopy (14.7%), and procedures on muscles and tendons (11.8%).
That is just one type of error that can occur, and each has varying degrees of potential harm to a patient. One thing they would all have in common is the need for guidance from a Louisville surgical error lawyer to get some help with the next step for a claim.
Reasons Why Errors Happen
Surgical errors can happen for a variety of reasons. It is essential for filing a complaint that you understand the root cause of what happened. Here are some of those possible reasons for a surgical error:
Inadequate Preoperative Planning
Preparing for surgery involves more than fasting for several hours before the procedure. The medical team must also have a thorough understanding of the patient’s medical history. This will help them anticipate potential complications and possible allergic reactions to medications.
Communication Breakdowns
A surgical procedure will never involve just one person. There is a team that covers the surgery and another team in charge of the recovery. Anywhere along the line, communications can break down and lead to mistakes.
Technical Errors
Doctors and nurses train for years to perform surgical procedures. However, all of that training does not protect them from technical errors, such as damage to surrounding tissues, improper suturing, or leaving surgical instruments inside the patient.
Human Factors
Beyond technical errors, there are also human factors to consider. Surgeons and their staff can be susceptible to fatigue, stress, and possibly a lack of experience. Every surgery is a high-pressure environment, and occasionally, that can affect the people called on to perform these procedures.
Equipment Failure
Just as humans fail, surgical instruments and equipment can also fail. Failures with anesthesia machines or monitors can lead to a misreading of a patient’s vital signs, which can have unintended consequences.
Infection Prevention Protocol Lapses
Specific infection prevention protocol procedures can lead to postoperative infections, which can lead to complications that result in the need for additional surgical procedures or delayed recovery.
Who Can Be Held Liable
Part of the help that a Louisville surgical error lawyer can provide is identifying who can be held liable for the error. That will involve a thorough investigation of the procedure and history of any prior negligence claims. Here is who could be held responsible:
- Surgeon
- Surgical team members
- Anesthesiologist
- Hospital or surgical center
- Medical device manufacturers
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Supervising physicians
After identifying who might be at fault, you and your attorney need to establish the following four elements of negligence:
Duty of care
This is the most straightforward element to prove in a surgical error claim. It means your doctor and their team had a duty of care to provide you with the proper course of care for your procedure.
Breach of duty
When the surgeon or team injured you through negligence or substandard care, it is a breach of duty.
Causation
You will need to demonstrate that the surgeon or team’s breach of duty caused your surgical error that resulted in harm.
Damages
The damage is all the harm you’ve suffered as a result of the error. These can be both economic and noneconomic costs, such as medical bills, therapies, medications, lost wages, pain, and suffering.
Ask Your Louisville Surgical Error Lawyer About Settlement Versus Trial
Filing a surgical error complaint can lead to a complex process to get to the truth. Fortunately, you’ll find that the team of attorneys at Thomas Law Offices are up to the challenge. We will strive to negotiate a fair settlement. However, settling out of court could sometimes lead to a lower amount. When the case is strong, pursuing a civil action might be the best option.
Keep in mind that in Kentucky, the statute of limitations for filing this type of case is just one year. That is why you need to act fast. You can start with a free case evaluation with our Louisville surgical error lawyer. Call our offices to set up that talk today. We want to hear what happened.
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