Wrong Surgery, Wrong Patient Malpractice & Lawsuits

Mistakes in surgery happen where a procedure that is wrong is done on the wrong individual, or the wrong part of the body.

For too many individuals, unfortunately, this is a sad reality that has occurred.

Completely preventable, these mistakes are considered among events that should never happen, which shouldn’t occur ever in a healthcare facility. Sadly, hundreds of these errors occur yearly.

Litigation and liability come at a high cost regarding surgical mistakes due to neglect of medical centers and surgeons. These should’ve been rectified in the early stages.

Even with preventive procedures and innovative technology, however, these catastrophic mistakes still arise.

A study from a decade ago identified unfortunate events in a period of 13 years amounting to nearly 6,000.

A breakdown was compiled regarding nearly 9,800 lawsuits of surgical mistakes in another study involving litigation cases:

• Averaging over $86,000 in payouts, surgical instruments retained in bodies were at 50%.
• For wrong site surgeries, there were 25% of lawsuits, with an average of over $127,000.
• For wrong procedure surgeries, that was 25% of cases, with an average of over $232,000.
• For wrong patient surgeries, the average was nearly $110,000 in payouts, which was less than 1%.

Several lawsuits had payouts which amounted per incidence to more than $7 million for expensive, yet avoidable, mistakes.

Administrative or communication errors are the result of most wrong-procedure and wrong-site surgeries.

It merely takes entering a wrong code for a hospital patient to be scheduled for the wrong side operated or the wrong surgery to be performed.

It is the responsibility of the staff, however, to check multiple times all procedures prior to performing surgeries.

Although it is the ultimate responsibility of surgeons to make sure the correct procedure is performed on the correct patient, individuals should be able to safeguard themselves.

Prior to surgery, you should ask how the surgeons are certain they perform the proper procedure, on the side that’s correct.

Prior to going under anesthesia, stop, and with the medical team, review what is supposed to occur.

Repeat your date of birth and name, as they are supposed to check the accuracy multiple times.

The consent form may be long, but it is vital to read it entirely, and make sure the information is correct.

Insist that initials of the area are confirmed by the surgeon prior to the procedure where you are supposed to be operated.

If you or a member of the family has been victimized due to a surgical mistake because of a wrong procedure or surgery, you are entitled to pursue a lawsuit of medical malpractice.

Surgeons and medical facilities have costly legal teams employed by them to decrease the compensation amount for which they are liable in these kinds of cases.

Attorneys with expertise and experience can assist you to obtain what is entitled to you for suffering and pain.

Contact us for a free consultation or call Anzalone Law Firm PLLC, at: 603.548.3797