Anesthesiologist Malpractice

Anesthesiologists are trained to put patients into a pharmacologically induced state that allows them to go through medical procedures without feeling pain or suffering complications because of the stress that surgery places on the body. Anesthesia may be general, regional, or local. Unfortunately, in spite of their training, anesthesiologists do sometimes make mistakes. If you were harmed as the result of anesthesiology malpractice, you should call the seasoned medical malpractice lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys.

Not every error made by an anesthesiologist constitutes actionable malpractice. Rather, our lawyers and experts will need to look at whether it is possible to establish: (1) you were owed a professional standard of care by your anesthesiologist, (2) departure from the professional standard of care, (3) causation, and (4) damages.

Your anesthesiologist could depart from the professional standard of care by administering too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor, failing to intubate properly, and miscommunicating. For instance, there may be anesthesiologist malpractice if your anesthesiologist overdosed your mother with anesthesia, lengthening the period she was sedated, such that she suffered brain damage. Conversely, malpractice may also exist if you wake up from a procedure too soon —before the anesthesia has worn off—and suffer severe pain, stress, and complications.

We will likely need to consult an expert anesthesiologist about whether your anesthesiologist abided by the accepted practices of other anesthesiologists in and around Syracuse. Assuming there is a viable claim, and we file a complaint, we will also need to file a certificate of merit attesting to our consultation with an expert anesthesiologist.

Assuming we are able to establish an Upstate New York anesthesiologist’s liability, we may be able to recover compensatory damages. The amount and nature of these damages will depend on the specific harms you suffered as a result of the malpractice, but they could encompass both economic and noneconomic losses. Economic losses may include medical bills, wage loss, replacement services, caregiving, and out-of-pocket costs. For instance, if your father went into a coma as the result of an anesthesiologist’s malpractice, a jury might award past and present wage loss and caregiving, along with the costs of providing care for the remainder of his life.

Noneconomic losses can include pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and mental anguish. These losses can vary dramatically depending on the plaintiff’s personal characteristics and what a particular jury believes would naturally flow from the types of injuries. Your noneconomic damages may also vary dramatically based on the lawyer who represents you.

Tragically, some errors made by an anesthesiologist result in death. It is possible that a death arising out of this type of malpractice will not be accurately described in medical records by the doctors and nurses who were there. When a loved one dies as the result of mistakes, you may have a suspicion that something is wrong, but not be quite sure what it is. This is one reason it is crucial to consult an attorney if you believe it’s possible your loved one died in the operating room as the result of medical malpractice. Certain family members may be able to recover pecuniary losses in the form of damages when anesthesiology malpractice results in wrongful death. A wrongful death lawsuit may be brought as a result of professional negligence when the decedent would have been able to pursue damages for injuries had he or she lived.

Anesthesiologist malpractice can result in irreparable harms, along with substantial expenses. You may not be sure of your recourse. If you or a loved one was injured in this manner, the Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys may be able to represent you. We have more than 3 decades of experience representing injured patients and we’ve recovered more than $200 million in personal injury awards and settlements. We represent families in Wampsville, Auburn, Rochester, Watertown, Lowville, Oswego, Canandaigua, Lyons, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Oneida, Utica, Herkimer, Binghamton, Elmira, Syracuse and all of Upstate New York. Complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000.