There are risks associated with any type of surgery, whether you are being treated under emergency circumstances or through an elective medical procedure. The intricate, meticulous nature of surgery means that any slight mistake can lead to serious harm, long-term complications, and even death for the patient. Unfortunately, the vast majority of surgical errors are preventable. Online health care resource WebMD indicates that there may be more than 4,000 mistakes made by surgeons every year; the actual figure may be higher than this estimate because of issues with reporting.
Surgical mistakes are referred to as “never” events because they should not ever occur when a provider in the specialty area of surgery exercises due care. These errors can rise to the level of malpractice, so you should discuss your legal remedies with a Miami medical malpractice lawyer. You might also find it useful to learn about the most common surgical errors.
- Leaving Objects Inside the Patient: Fatigue, interruptions, and understaffing may lead a physician to be careless when suturing a patient after surgery. He or she may not notice that a sponge, tool, clamp, or other equipment was left behind. This type of surgical mistake is especially harmful because the object may not be discovered for weeks or months afterward.
- Procedure on the Incorrect Location: Surgery can lead to catastrophic harm when a surgeon operates on the wrong body part. The worse-case scenario might involve an operation on a perfectly healthy organ, amputation, or other horrific results. The most common factor behind this surgical mistake is lack of communication or the physician being unprepared to perform the surgery.
- Operating on the Wrong Patient: This type of error is particularly disturbing because the underlying cause is often carelessness in handling patient charts. Confusion in a busy hospital can lead personnel to switch up these records, which means the surgeon operates on the wrong person.
- Performing the Wrong Surgery: When a mistake causes a surgeon to conduct an improper procedure, the root cause is typically a diagnosis error. The physician who diagnosed the medical condition believes surgery is necessary as treatment, when some other, less-invasive option would have been proper.
- Slicing Into Other Organs and Tissue: The delicate nature of surgery necessitates steady hands and purposeful movement within the patient’s body. Even a slight tremor or nudge could lead a surgeon to cut into an organ, blood vessel, or other tissue in the vicinity of the procedure target. Organ failure, internal hemorrhage, and other injuries might require additional emergency surgery.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Miami Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you suffered harm or lost a loved one because of a surgeon’s error, you may have rights under Florida’s medical malpractice laws. Our team at Gerson & Schwartz, PA can review your circumstances to see if you qualify to recover compensation, so please contact our firm right away. We can set up a no-cost case assessment at our offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm Beach, FL to learn more about your situation.