You can’t win a medical malpractice lawsuit unless you have solid proof that medical malpractice occurred. We will conduct a thorough review of your medical records and enlist the services of other doctors and medical professionals to determine whether or not your doctor or surgeon made a mistake or otherwise departed from acceptable medical practices.
Unfortunately, hospital records can be lost or misplaced or not readily produced. However, our attorneys will work to gain the access needed to locate the crucial records — and then preserve them. We work thoroughly and promptly to help ensure that no evidence is lost.
All surgery carries certain risks, but occasionally you are needlessly injured because the surgeon failed to perform up to the standard of care. It is possible that the surgeon wasn’t qualified to perform that type of surgery or that the procedure wasn’t required in the first place. The surgeon may have injured you during the procedure and failed to recognize the injuries before complications occurred.
Medical mistakes classified as “surgical errors” do not only occur during surgery. Surgical errors can also occur during diagnostic tests, preparation for surgery, and as a result of post-surgical complications.
Common surgical errors include:
- Surgical technique: Sometimes a surgeon will cut into a nearby artery or organ by mistake. The surgical team may leave behind a sponge or fail to effectively close a surgical opening.
- The wrong surgery: In a heart bypass, the surgeon may bypass the wrong artery. There have been cases of surgeons operating on the wrong site — amputating the wrong foot or removing the wrong breast, for example.
- Failure to recognize errors: When a mistake is realized immediately, the damage can often be corrected. Failure to correct a mistake can require additional surgery, disability, or death.
- Performing surgery on the wrong patient: Catastrophic errors have been made when patients have been misidentified or when someone has confused the right or the left side of a patient’s body. Examples include: operating on the wrong patient, removing the wrong kidney (leaving cancerous kidney), transfusing mismatched blood, or implanting an incompatible organ.
- Anesthesia errors: Too much anesthesia or the wrong anesthesia can have catastrophic results including coma, brain damage, or wrongful death.
- Infections: Lack of care in closing and treating a surgical wound can cause life-threatening infections.
- Improper medical device implant: When a lead from a pacemaker punctures the heart’s wall or when a defibrillator or stent is improperly placed, the patient can face disability or wrongful death.
- Delegation: If the surgeon delegates a part of the surgery or closing procedures to another health care professional, the surgeon still has responsibility for the work.
Any sort of surgery is a highly delicate situation. In surgery, you are placing yourself in a position of extreme vulnerability. We place ourselves in situations like these because we trust that surgeons will follow the careful standards of their professions. Unfortunately, sometimes they do not. There is no guarantee of a positive outcome to any surgery. However, surgical patients can and should expect medical professionals to follow correct procedures and uphold the established standards of care in all surgeries.
Skilled medical malpractice law firms have the resources needed to sustain a complex surgical error case. Hospitals and surgical staff are frequently reluctant to admit mistakes. To determine liability on the part of the surgical team or hospital, we interview witnesses, examine patient records, and consult with experts. The best law firms underwrite the cost of these necessary elements to develop a strong case on your behalf.
