Surgical errors are some of the most frequent causes of medical malpractice lawsuits in California. These errors can have potentially deadly consequences, so it is important to be aware of what they can be and the impact they can have.
Serious surgical mistakes
One serious thing that can go wrong in a surgery is for the team to leave something behind in the patient. Usually, this is a surgical sponge, but there are other possibilities, like clamps or scalpels. This ranges in severity but is a serious lapse in medical procedure.
Another significant problem is an infection. The surgical team needs to be as safe as possible and follow all the rules about disinfectants because an infection from a hospital surgery can be lethal or crippling.
Operating on the wrong person, or on the wrong site for the right person, is another error that occasionally happens. This is a major mistake that can have a whole range of negative outcomes.
Other medical mistakes during surgery
If the doctors and nurses are not careful when transporting the patient, they can drop them, leading to injury. This might happen when transferring the patient between a stretcher and the bed, for example.
Lastly, in follow-up or during the surgery itself, the team might prescribe the wrong medication. This can lead to infections, allergic reactions, bad interactions between drugs and other problems. Surgical errors can easily be lethal depending on the case.
Medical malpractice suits allow injured patients to seek compensation for the kinds of surgical errors that bring great risk to patients. In the case of a fatal surgical error, the patient’s family may be able to seek compensation for their loss.
