If you or a loved one recently required surgery to treat a medical condition and something went wrong, you are probably looking for answers. You may question if the problem you or your loved one encountered during surgery was the fault of a medical professional’s negligence or the result of a surgical mistake. You may also wonder what your legal options are if you were the victim of medical malpractice. Surgical errors are rare, but when they occur, the results can be life-changing.
Surgical Mistakes Can Lead to Preventable Patient Suffering
Surgeons and other medical professionals are human and they sometimes make mistakes. However, when a mistake is egregious or the result of the medical professional’s negligent behavior, the professional may be guilty of medical malpractice. Examples of surgical errors that may justify a medical malpractice claim include:
- Improper sanitation of equipment or devices that leads to patient infection
- Surgical mistakes resulting in nerve damage or internal organ damage
- Use of contaminated or defective equipment
- Administering the wrong type of medication or the wrong dose of medication during surgery
- Using a surgical technique that is unnecessarily risky
- Performing unneeded surgery
Some surgical errors are so unacceptable that they are called “never events” because they should never happen. Never events include:
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