Surgery is an inherently risky procedure. Even in the best hospitals, patients run the risk of responding negatively to anesthesia or suffering other complications from the surgery, such as inadequate healing of their wounds.
However, when surgeons and others are negligent, injured patients can suffer catastrophic injuries. They can require much more invasive and expensive corrective surgery, or they can be rendered permanently disabled. Others will die. If you have suffered an injury in the operating room, please contact our Grand Junction surgical error malpractice lawyers.
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Our Grand Junction Medical Malpractice Lawyers Will Fight for You
After a surgical error, many injured patients and their families don’t know what to do. This is where Cimarron Ridge Legal Group comes in. Our experienced lawyers have more than 70 combined years in the trenches fighting for patients.
Doctors and hospitals have gigantic law firms representing their interests and the interests of their insurers. Injured patients need someone in their corner as well, otherwise they could quickly get steamrolled by the legal process.
Types of Surgical Errors
Some of the more common surgical errors include:
- Wrong-site surgery. The doctor operates on the right patient but the wrong body part. For example, a patient might go in to have a part of her left lung removed, but the doctor removes the right lung.
- Wrong patient surgery. This shocking error is an example of a “never event,” meaning it should never happen. For example, a patient is wheeled into the operating room to have a tumor in her breast removed but instead has a pacemaker implanted.
- Perforated organs. A clumsy surgeon can damage healthy tissue during surgery, such as perforating organs.
Internal bleeding. Some bleeding is unavoidable, but a surgeon might nick or cut an artery accidentally. Even worse, some surgeons might not realize what they have done, which imperils patients whose blood pressure can crash.- Damaged nerves. A surgeon can kill nerves during surgery, leading to paralysis.
- Implements left behind. Careless surgical teams can leave sponges or other implements in a patient, which require another surgery to remove.
- Anesthesia errors. When too much or too little anesthesia is administered, a patient can be injured. Some anesthesia errors result in death.
Causes of Surgical Errors
Errors in surgery should be very rare. Unfortunately, many stem from the doctor or hospital negligence. Time and again, our attorneys have traced surgical errors to:
- Incompetence. A surgeon, even if licensed, might lack the skill necessary to perform surgery competently.
- Poor communication. Doctors and nurses can omit key information from a patient’s chart or mix up information. Poor communication is often to blame for wrong-site and wrong-patient surgical errors.
- Fatigue. Some surgeons spend too much time in the operating room, and fatigue can impair their ability to operate safely.
- Drug or alcohol impairment. Some surgeons deal with the stress of their jobs by drinking or doing drugs. But this chemical addiction can lead to surgical error.
- Equipment malfunction. Some surgeries are performed by equipment, which is supposed to make the surgery safer. However, the equipment can malfunction and end up injuring patients.
Contact a Grand Junction Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you or a loved one has been injured in surgery, please speak to Cimarron Ridge Legal Group today. We offer a free consultation, which you can schedule by calling us today.
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