Surgery is often frightening, even if you are able to survive the procedure without any complications. When the surgery goes tragically wrong, you may have the right to sue the surgeon, nurses, or technicians that caused your injuries. A lot can go awry in an operating room. Some mistakes and errors may be inevitable, and in these situations it can be difficult to prove that the hospital is liable.
Yet there are times that a competent doctor could have avoided the complications that may arise. Oftentimes, patients are unconscious for surgery. This means that you will not know what went wrong until you wake up from the surgical procedure. There are many different reasons that you can file for surgical errors, but here are some of the most common.
Falls: When you are placed on an operating table, surgeons and assistants are required to secure you to that table so that you will not fall off and suffer injuries while you are knocked out. The doctors will probably be shifting your body around while you are on the table, and there is a possibility that you could shift unconsciously as well. If you fall off the operating table because you are improperly strapped in, then you need to talk with an attorney at the firm today to learn more.
Medication Errors: Sometimes doctors may overmedicate, under-medicate, or improperly medicate their patients. Reports show that adverse drug effects are responsible for about 100,000 adult emergency hospitalizations every year, specifically in older adults. If a doctor prescribes the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine, then this can lead to a medication error lawsuit. Also, if the medication produces side effects that could have been avoided, or if the doctor is knowledgeable that the medication will have severe side effects and does not change the medication, then you may be able to sue.
Infections: Infections can be a serious danger after surgery. About 1 in 20 hospitalized patients develop some sort of infection during their stay. The infections kill about 98,000 Americans annually. Some of these infections are unavoidable and are simply the body's adverse reaction to a procedure. The most common cause of a hospital-acquired infection is poor hygiene. Sometimes, if a doctor or nurse doesn't consistently wash his or her hands, it can lead to this infection. This can lead to serious complications during recovery. If you believe that your infection was avoidable, then you may be able to contact an attorney and sue.
Surgery Mix-Ups: It may sound shocking, but doctors can sometimes mix up which patient is which and which surgery is done on which patient. There have been reports in the past of doctors have looked at the papers incorrectly. For example, they may be performing an amputation on an individual's right leg. If the doctor accidentally performs the amputation on the left leg, this can be tragic. The patient in this situation would certainly have the right to sue. Also, if the doctor performs the wrong surgery due to the fact that paperwork has gotten mixed-up, the patient has the right to sue.
Objects Left in the Body: In some cases, a surgeon may fail to take objects out of the body following surgery. The most common object left in the body is sponges which are placed in the surgery site to soak up the blood. Hospitals are required to count the amount of sponges that they put into the body and then re-count after surgery to make sure that they have taken them all out. Also, a surgeon may leave extra string or supplies in the body at the time of the surgery.
If you have been injured in a surgery, don't hesitate to call a local medical malpractice attorney to represent you in your case! Call the firm today to learn more!