Anesthesia Malpractice: Do I Have a Strong Case?

When you undergo surgery, it’s not just you and the surgeon in the room. In fact, there’s a whole medical team involved. In addition to a surgeon (or multiple surgeons), nurses, and technicians, there is one more very important medical provider: the anesthesiologist. If that anesthesiologist fails to perform their work properly and you become injured, you may sue them for medical malpractice. Read on to learn more about this often-ignored medical provider and whether you would have a strong malpractice case against them.

What is an anesthesiologist?

Anesthesiologists specialize in pain management and controlled sedation – they want to make sure that your body doesn’t feel pain so that it can remain perfectly still for the surgeon to perform the procedure. Imagine if you did not have your pain numbed by anesthesia medicine and the surgeon cut into your skin. You might jump or flinch or jerk your body away from the painful stimulus. This could cause serious injury. Thus, the anesthesiologist ensures that you are pain-free so that your body doesn’t move during the surgery.

What are the different types of anesthesia?

There are four main types of anesthesia:

-Local. This is when a small area of the body is numbed. You remain awake the whole time, but a very localized area is rendered pain-free. Local anesthesia is usually used for stitches or mole removals.

-Regional. This type of anesthesia numbs a larger part of your body. You can be asleep (if the doctor adds a sedative) or awake and totally aware. You won’t feel pain, though, in the area that the doctor has to perform surgery. Regional anesthesia is used in, e.g., child birth and surgeries to arms and legs.

-IV/Monitored sedation. This is the type of anesthesia used for minimally-invasive procedures. Your level of sedation varies: You might be awake enough to talk or you may be so sedated that it’s like you’re taking a deep nap. IV/monitored sedation is typically used for procedures like colonoscopies.

-General. This type of anesthesia is used for major and very invasive surgeries. It renders the patient totally unconscious. It’s used for big operations, like a knee replacement or a cardiac bypass.

What kind of anesthesia errors might an anesthesiologist make?   

An anesthesiologist has a duty to ensure that you get the right amount and type of medicine. They are also responsible for your pain management and critical care before, during, and after the surgery. In some cases, an anesthesiologist might give you an improper dosage of anesthesia or give you the wrong type of anesthesia medication, which can result in serious side effects, such as nerve damage, brain damage, or death. Or perhaps the anesthesiologist didn’t intubate you properly, resulting in oxygen deprivation, brain damage, or death. Or an anesthesiologist might not be paying proper attention to you. Remember, they should be monitoring you during the entire surgery. If their attention strays, they may not notice crucial signs of distress and if they don’t act swiftly to course-correct, you could suffer serious injuries and permanent damages, such as heart attack, stroke, or even death.

How can you prove anesthesia medical malpractice?

If you were injured during surgery and/or as the result of an anesthesia error, you may have a strong anesthesia medical malpractice claim.  As part of your anesthesia malpractice claim, your lawyer will have to prove that the anesthesiologist breached their duty to you as their patient and that such a breach proximately caused your injuries. In other words, your attorney will have to prove that the anesthesiologist failed to give you the same minimum standards of treatment that another anesthesiologist would have under the same circumstances. And your attorney would also need to prove that the anesthesiologist’s failure increased your risk of injuries. If your attorney can prove all of that, then you have a strong anesthesia malpractice case.

Anesthesia medical malpractice cases can be complicated. If you suffered an injury related to surgery, contact the experienced anesthesia medical malpractice attorneys at VSCP Law.