Surgical Errors

A surgical error medical malpractice case typically involves situations in which the surgery was performed either ineffectively, meaning it did not achieve the desired result, or negligently in a way that causes additional harm. Surgical error malpractice cases require proving the condition the plaintiff would have been had the surgery and performed properly. From there, the damage in such a case lies in the difference between how the plaintiff recovered compared with how he or she would have had the surgery not been performed inappropriately.

Surgical error and surgery malpractice cases generally require another surgeon to review the medical records and provide an opinion regarding the skill and care that went into the operation and whether it was performed negligently. Often times, the most important record in a surgical malpractice case is the operative report. While it is rare for such reports to be modified or corrected, it is wise to obtain the operative report as early as possible so that it is preserved. Surgery malpractice cases can involve mistakes that are made during the procedure, as well as those that are made long before. For example, if the patient is a poor candidate for surgery,  meaning he or she is unlikely to handle the procedure well, then there could be a malpractice case even the surgery itself is performed without error. Similarly, long before the first incision is necessary for an operating room to be sanitized and cleaned in a manner that avoids unreasonable risk of infection. Again, even if the surgery is performed perfectly well there are times in which a patient develops an infection as a result of unclean instruments or conditions.

Common surgical error or surgery malpractice cases involve:

Failure to obtain informed consent

Laparoscopic surgeries

Anesthesia error & Brain Damage

Patient consent

Infection prevention

Foreign object

Wrong site surgery

Plastic Surgery

Wrong implant/device