As a society, we put a great deal of trust in medical professionals – especially surgeons. Unfortunately, surgeons often make big mistakes and surgical malpractice attorneys help hold them responsible. Medical facilities pay an aggregate of over $1 billion annually to victims of preventable surgical errors.
Common surgical errors cause undue pain and suffering to innocent families, and they shouldn’t happen. Surgical procedures are supposed to be performed in good faith that the patient will soon be on the road to recovery and better health.
Often that just isn’t the case and surgical malpractice attorneys must get involved. Here are the 3 most common, yet preventable, surgical errors made by medical professionals.
- Foreign Objects Left Inside a Patient
Surgical professionals use a myriad of specialty tools and they have an entire nursing staff dedicated to keeping up with those tools. Surgeons are charged with adequate inspection of the surgical cavity before closing a patient. Too many times careless errors leave anything from metal tools to sponges and gauze inside a patient.
Not only does this cause extreme discomfort and potential infection, but it can be life threatening. Not only is the patient left with physical harm and emotional distress but they must undergo a second surgery to correct the mistake, hopefully before it causes further damage. This is shockingly the most common type of surgical mistake.
- Wrong Side/Site Operations
Carelessness and rushing on the part of the medical staff can lead to surgery on the wrong site or incorrect side of the body. This is another error that should never happen but is more common than you’d like to think. It has led to amputations of healthy limbs or even removing incorrect and healthy organs in the body.
These are tragic horror stories that can be debilitating or life threatening. The results are always tragic and life-altering. These are preventable mistakes brought on by carelessness. When preparing for a surgical procedure it is the responsibility of the medical staff and the surgeon to ensure they are performing the right type of surgery on the correct surgical sight.
- Operating on the Incorrect Patient
Patients trust the medical staff and surgeons to know who they are and what procedure is being performed when they enter the operating room. Unfortunately, human error is a component and sometimes medical records get switched. Patients and procedures should be checked and double-checked multiple times before the surgeon begins. When this doesn’t happen, the surgeon can end up operating on the wrong patient.
Partnering with the Best Surgical Malpractice Attorneys
When surgical professionals make errors, people tend to get hurt. Most of these surgical errors are preventable. There is no excuse for leaving an object inside a patient, operating on the wrong surgical site, or even operating on the wrong patient. Victims of these shocking surgical errors need the compassionate and skilled representation of great surgical malpractice attorneys. The best surgical malpractice attorneys represent clients who are generously compensated for their misfortune. Surgical errors should never happen but when they do partner with the best surgical malpractice attorneys who can bring a surgical malpractice suit.
