Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia is a temporary, medically induced state in which a patient cannot feel pain, has a decreased stress response, lacks responsiveness, or has amnesia. Sometimes more than one anesthetic drug is administered to achieve a particular effect during a medical procedure, such as surgery. Unfortunately, anesthesia errors do occur, and a patient may experience unnecessary harm or even a wrongful death. Anesthesia errors may be results of a doctor's negligence, an anesthesiologist's negligence, a nurse's negligence, or another staff member's negligence. When they cause harm to a patient, it may be possible for our Syracuse anesthesia error lawyers to recover damages from the responsible health care providers.

There are different types of anesthesia. During general anesthesia, a patient is rendered unconscious. During local anesthesia, only a specific body area is numbed. Spinal and epidural anesthesia are provided through an injection near the spinal cord. Dissociative anesthesia creates a trance-like condition. Anesthesia errors can be caused by incompetent or negligent medical professionals or hospitals, although in some cases, they are caused by defective equipment.

Errors could include administering too much of an anesthetic, administering too little of a drug, delayed delivery of anesthesia, administration of anesthesia to someone who has allergies or is on a prescription drug with which there is a negative interaction, a failure to provide proper instructions to patients before anesthesia, or a failure to provide oxygen. Errors can result in problems such as abnormal pulse, dizziness, blurred vision, brain damage, heart function problems, nerve damage, birth defects, seizures, stroke, cardiovascular collapse, malignant hyperthermia, and spinal cord injuries. In some cases, the result of an anesthesia error may be coma or death.

When a health care provider's errors cause injuries, it may be possible to hold them responsible in a medical malpractice lawsuit with the assistance of an anesthesia error attorney in the Syracuse area. In most cases, you will need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the health care provider who made the mistake had a doctor-patient relationship with you, the health care provider's anesthesia error was one in which they deviated from the accepted standard of care, and the anesthesia error caused your injuries.

In most cases, an expert's testimony will be needed to show what the standard of care was, how the professional's conduct deviated from it, and causation. For example, the expert might look at whether the anesthesiologist promptly reacted to an oxygenation problem. In some cases, an anesthesiologist is not as alert to oxygen problems as they should be. The result of failing to provide oxygen can be brain damage, and what should have been a simple surgery can turn into a tragedy.

If your Syracuse anesthesia error attorney can successfully prove that an anesthesia error counts as medical malpractice, you should be able to recover damages that put you back into the position where you would have been had the error not occurred. Compensatory damages to which you may be entitled include past and future medical bills, rehabilitation, disability, loss of enjoyment of life, past and future wage loss, pain and suffering, and household services.

When a loved one passes away due to an anesthesia error, it may be possible to bring a wrongful death lawsuit. Certain family members may be entitled to compensation for funeral and burial expenses and other pecuniary losses. These could include loss of support for the deceased patient's next of kin, as well as loss of services to a spouse, loss of parental care to children, and loss of services to the parent of a child. In some cases, it is necessary to retain expert economists to provide reasonable estimates of what a deceased patient would have earned and contributed to their family over the course of a lifetime.

If you are harmed due to a doctor's anesthesia error, our law firm may be able to help you recover damages from the responsible parties. We represent injured patients in Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, Auburn, Elmira, Norwich, Cortland, Delhi, Herkimer, Watertown, Lowville, Oneida, Wampsville, Utica, Canandaigua, Oswego, Cooperstown, Ithaca, Lyons, and all of Upstate New York. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.