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Anesthesia malpractice, or anesthesiologist malpractice occurs when complications develop during the administration of anesthesia due to possible negligence.
Effective and safe anesthesia is one of the great achievements of modern medicine. However, anesthesia carries great risks and various dangers. It must be administered with care, precision and skill. That’s why we have anesthesiologists, specialists who work with surgeons, whose job is to administer anesthesia and monitor a patient’s functioning during surgery.
Even with the precaution of having a specialist whose only responsibility is monitoring the patient under anesthesia during a procedure, errors occur far too often. These errors can cause catastrophic anesthesia injuries, and in some cases, can be fatal.
The type of anesthesia used depends on the procedure and patient needs, with each carrying unique risks:
General Anesthesia: Designed to render the patient unconscious such that they remain pain-free but poses risks like throat or vocal cord damage from breathing tubes, changes in blood pressure, and rare complications such as anesthesia awareness, aspiration or malignant hyperthermia.
Local Anesthesia: Numbs a small area and is generally safe in small doses but can cause systemic toxicity if overused, leading to issues like seizures or breathing difficulties.
Regional Anesthesia: Blocks sensation in a larger body area, such as during spinal or epidural procedures. Risks include infections, nerve damage, and pulmonary complications.
Errors in administering or monitoring anesthesia can result in serious harm and may constitute medical malpractice.
Anesthesia Malpractice, or medical malpractice causing injury following anesthesia, can be caused by an anesthesiologist or other health care professional involved in a surgical procedure.
Failures to properly and thoroughly evaluate a patient prior to administering anesthesia are among the many scenarios in which anesthesia malpractice may occur, influenced by several factors. Anesthesia errors can also occur due to dosage errors when an anesthesiologist administers too much or too little anesthesia to a patient. Aspiration can also occur when the patient cannot swallow due to anesthesia and food, vomit, or liquid enters the patient’s trachea or lungs. Monitoring equipment needed to measure the patient’s vitals could also be turned off, leading to the possibility that any medical professionals present during a patient’s procedure could miss important alerts or changes in patient status. Other common errors include:
Prior to any operation, anesthesiologists must perform a thorough review of their patient’s medical history and records. Except for certain emergent circumstances, typically patients must refrain from eating or drinking prior to their procedure to reduce the likelihood of aspiration once anesthesia is administered.
If an anesthesiologist fails to perform thorough pre-operative screening, they could, for instance, potentially administer drugs the patient is allergic to, which could result in serious injury or death.
When general anesthesia is administered, patients are effectively paralyzed, which can make it harder for them to breathe. To encourage oxygenation, anesthesiologists typically intubate the patient by inserting a breathing tube (endotracheal) down the patient’s trachea or windpipe.
If this tube is incorrectly placed before administering anesthesia medications, the following complications may occur:
By the end of a trial, regardless of the outcome, it feels good to know I’ve been in there fighting for someone who needed a strong advocate, typically someone who has suffered the death of a loved one, or a serious, permanent disability.
Among the many potential consequences of anesthesia overdose are coma, brain injury, and death. Specifically, an anesthesia accident can result in:
One of the most horrifying anesthesia accidents is the administration of too little anesthesia or delayed anesthesia resulting in awareness, waking up, and/or the ability to feel pain during surgery.
During “anesthesia awareness” the patient is paralyzed and cannot move or communicate, but may experience extreme pain, feeling the surgery itself, the inability to breathe, and extreme terror. Anesthesia awareness caused by medical malpractice can lead to long-term psychological and emotional damage, which may warrant retaining an anesthesia injury lawyer to seek compensation on your behalf. Effects can include:
Undergoing an operation where anesthesia will be administered means placing complete trust in an anesthesiologist to safeguard a patient’s vital life functions. While the vast majority of anesthesiology administration is safely performed without incident, anesthesiology malpractice does occur, sometimes with devastating results.
Anesthesiology injuries can mean sudden emotional, physical, and financial hardships for not only patients but also for their families. It might be difficult to think about seeking legal help during such a traumatic event, but there is a limited time frame for taking legal action. In many cases you will need the compensation that you deserve as soon as possible.
If you or a loved one has experienced death or a serious injury which you think may have been because of an anesthesiology error or anesthesia malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation, including coverage for one or all of the following:
I had a change of heart in midcareer. I love to try cases and it was very satisfying to exonerate a physician I felt did nothing wrong. But a defense attorney typically must defend whatever cases a malpractice insurance company assigns, and I grew tired of having to defend medical care I personally didn’t believe in.
Succeeding in a medical malpractice case involving anesthesia injuries requires proving specific elements. These cases can be complex, requiring a deep understanding of both medical standards and the legal principles surrounding medical malpractice. An experienced anesthesia injury lawyer in New Jersey or Pennsylvania can help you navigate this process by gathering evidence and building a compelling case to establish the following:
Liability – A Deviation from the Standard of Care: Your attorney must demonstrate that the anesthesiologist or another healthcare provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care in treating a patient. The standard of care is dictated by what a reasonable provider in the same or similar circumstances would do. Any deviations from this standard – whether via actions or inactions, constitute liability in a medical malpractice case. Proving liability in the anesthesia malpractice context may involve establishing errors such as improper administration of anesthesia, failure to monitor vital signs, or neglecting to review your medical history before administering anesthesia during/prior to the procedure.
Causation: The deviation from the standard of care (i.e. the medical error) must have caused the patient’s injury, or in other words, must have significantly increased the risk of harm to the patient.Proving this element involves linking the medical professional’s negligence to the specific harm a patient experienced following anesthesia malpractice, such as emotional distress, brain damage, nerve injuries, or complications from inadequate oxygen levels.
Damages: Finally, your lawyer must prove the specific losses you claim to have suffered as a result of the injury, including but not limited to pain and suffering, emotional distress, medical expenses, disability or loss of income.
Anesthesia injury cases require sworn support and testimony from medical experts independent of your lawyers, a plethora of medical records, and often witness testimony. Our skilled anesthesia injury attorneys will focus on gathering all of the available proofs to build the strongest possible case on your behalf.
New Jersey and Philadelphia anesthesia malpractice lawyers Weiss & Paarz have presented many cases of anesthesiology malpractice to juries, helping families achieve substantial financial recoveries. Our team is fully committed to using the experience and knowledge gained by all of our cases to assist families and individuals who have suffered a severe, permanent injury, who have sustained severe emotional distress / suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or who have died because of anesthesia injuries in their effort to obtain compensation and seek justice.
If you believe you or a loved one may have experienced an anesthesia injury, contact Weiss & Paarz, P.C., today.
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