The oldest known surgery was a leg amputation performed on a child in Borneo about 31,000 years ago. Since then, countless people have benefited from surgeries that have improved their health and prolonged their lives. But what about the people who have been harmed by surgery? Who leaves a medical procedure in a worse condition than when they went in for surgery, such as suffering severe organ damage due to a surgical mistake?
If you or your loved one suffered organ damage due to a medical mistake, the medical malpractice lawyers at Powers & Santola, LLP can investigate your case and explain your legal rights. Our dedicated legal services have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our deserving clients who were injured by the negligence of others. Call us today for a free consultation.
What Kinds of Organ Damage Can Occur During Surgery?
Various kinds of mistakes can occur during surgery that can cause organ damage, including:
Punctured Organs
Surgeons have extensive training and education to perform difficult medical procedures on patients. However, if they are not extremely careful during surgery, they can potentially nick an organ or nearby tissue, leading to complications and sometimes even death. Surgeons should also note any organs or tissues damaged during a surgical error and immediately correct them.
A medical malpractice claim can arise when a surgeon fails to notice damaged organs. The surgeon may close the patient up. When the patient begins experiencing complications, the healthcare provider may finally realize the mistake.
Infections
Another way that organs can become damaged during surgery is through the transmission of infections. During invasive surgeries, the body may be exposed to bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances. This is why hospitals are expected to establish and follow sanitation protocols to protect patient safety and prevent them from acquiring surgical site infections. When surgeons or other medical providers under their supervision do not wash their hands properly, use unsterilized surgical instruments, or otherwise expose patients to contaminants, patients can suffer serious complications.
Grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit can also arise when surgeons and other medical professionals fail to notice symptoms of infections. Surgical site infections are one of the most common types of healthcare-associated infections, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Healthcare providers should be vigilant about patient care and carefully monitor them for common signs of infection.
Anesthesia Mistakes
Anesthesia mistakes can also cause organ damage in some situations. Anesthesia usually involves delivering medication to a patient through gas, IVs, or other routes of administration. Anesthesia can help alleviate pain or make patients unconscious so they do not experience the procedure or associated pain.
However, if an anesthesiologist fails to properly monitor a patient, they may not recognize signs of distress. The patient can suffer organ failure or other serious health complications. Medical providers could improperly intubate a patient, which could lead to the patient not receiving adequate oxygen supplies during the procedure and potentially damaging the lungs.
Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers can review the circumstances surrounding your injuries to determine if a healthcare provider’s negligence is responsible.
Organ Failure
Organ damage can occur with organ failure. Organ failure is a serious medical crisis involving one or more of the body’s major systems shutting down.
Intensive medical intervention may be necessary during organ failure. Patients may need to be hooked up to monitoring machines and life-saving medical devices. They may need surgery to survive and medication to endure the pain that likely follows. Some cases are so dire that patients need an organ transplant. Sadly, some patients die during organ failure. If you lost a loved one due to organ failure, our legal team can discuss the prospect of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the careless medical provider responsible for the death.
Foreign Objects
Organ damage can also occur when a surgeon or assistant leaves a surgical object, such as a scalpel, gauze, sponge, or clamp, in a patient. The surgeon closes the patient back up and may only realize the mistake once the patient develops complications or infections.
Wrong Site, Patient, or Procedure Injuries
Some mistakes are so egregious that they should never occur, which is why the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality refers to them as “never events.” These are completely avoidable mistakes that should not happen but sadly do with alarming regularity. Examples of these never events include:
Wrong Site Mistakes
A wrong site mistake occurs when a doctor performs a procedure on the wrong body part. For example, a surgeon may perform a medical procedure on the kidney instead of a spleen. Similarly, a wrong-side mistake occurs when a doctor performs a procedure on the correct body part but on the wrong side of the body, such as amputating a healthy left foot instead of an infected right foot.
This preventable mistake should not occur when doctors follow proper protocols to avoid these mistakes. Surgeons are supposed to mark the correct body part on the patient before surgery, ensure X-ray films are not reversed, and confirm patient records match the patient being operated on. When they fail to follow these safeguards, a surgical error attorney can discuss legal grounds for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Wrong Patient Mistakes
Another type of never event occurs when a doctor performs a medical procedure on the wrong patient. Hospitals and other medical providers may mix up patient files or fail to communicate about an incoming trauma patient. Medical professionals are supposed to complete checklists and time-out procedures to avoid these critical mistakes, but some fail to do so.
Performing surgery on the wrong patient can have dire consequences. The patient could be harmed during the unnecessary procedure. They could acquire infections or have completely avoidable complications. They may even have a healthy organ removed. Our law firm can discuss whether filing an unnecessary surgery lawsuit against the negligent surgical team is possible.
Wrong Procedure Mistakes
A wrong procedure mistake occurs when the doctor has the right patient and body part but performs the wrong procedure on the patient. For example, they may perform a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy.
If you or your loved one was injured in any of these so-called never events, our skilled medical malpractice attorneys can represent you to hold negligent healthcare providers accountable for their careless mistakes.
Why Does Organ Damage Occur During Surgery?
Organ damage can occur for various reasons during surgery. Some of the most common reasons include:
- Rushing or emergency departments that are hectic and chaotic
- Failing to communicate with the patient or other healthcare providers
- Incompetence, inexperience, or lack of training
- Misidentification of areas of the body
- Lack of proper procedures to prevent medical mistakes
- Medical mistakes made during procedures
- Mishandling of surgical instruments
- Lack of organization or poor planning
- Impairment caused by fatigue or drug or alcohol abuse
- Failing to address complications during surgery
- Failing to sterilize medical instruments or follow sanitation procedures
- Negligent post-operative care
- Overwhelmed medical facilities that overbook procedures
- Lack of supervision
Our law firm has extensive experience gathering records to establish the underlying causes of medical mistakes. We can investigate your case, interview witnesses, review medical records, and work with expert witnesses to help establish legal liability in your medical malpractice case.
Legal Grounds for Suing for Organ Damage During Surgery
If you believe that your organ damage was preventable, our experienced attorneys can evaluate your claim to see if you have grounds to file a claim against the hospital or medical provider. Possible legal theories may include:
Medical Malpractice
Not every negative health outcome serves as the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Doctors are held liable for medical malpractice only when their treatment deviates from the accepted standard of care and they injure a patient as a result. The standard of care is a set of treatment actions and decisions other reasonable medical providers with similar backgrounds and training would provide under similar circumstances. If another like-minded surgeon would have taken the same actions as your surgeon, you may not have a claim.
To establish medical malpractice, you must be able to show the following:
- You had a doctor/patient relationship with the doctor you are suing, which created a duty of care.
- Your doctor did something or failed to do something that deviates from the applicable standard of care.
- Your doctor’s negligent care was the direct cause of your injury.
- You suffered significant harm or injury due to the mistake.
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can review your claim and work with expert witnesses to determine if you have valid grounds to file this type of legal claim.
Hospital Negligence
Hospital negligence claims tend to deal with administrative errors that result in harm to patients, such as:
- Hiring unqualified medical providers
- Negligently retaining medical providers with complaints against them
- Failing to assess patients for fall risks
- Failing to implement fall prevention or sanitation protocols to protect patients
- Not hiring enough qualified medical staff
- Failing to supervise staff
An experienced personal injury attorney can review your claim to determine if these mistakes contributed to your injuries.
Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Another potential legal ground for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit related to organ damage is lack of informed consent. Before a patient undergoes a medical procedure, their doctor should obtain informed consent. This means that your doctor has informed you of all of the following before conducting the procedure:
- The type of procedure being contemplated
- The risks, benefits, and consequences of the procedure
- The risks and benefits of not performing the procedure
- Alternatives to the procedure and their risks and benefits
- Possible side effects
If your doctor did not obtain your informed consent and you experienced surgical complications you were never informed about, you may be able to file a legal claim due to your doctor’s failure to obtain informed consent.
Signs of Organ Damage Following Surgery
The potential signs of organ damage will vary depending on the organ that was harmed during surgery. Some potential symptoms of organ damage include:
- Severe abdominal pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Sleep apnea
- Accumulation of fluids
- Difficulty going to the bathroom
- Changes in bladder and bowel movements or control
- Bloating
- Abnormal heartbeat
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Difficulty waking from sleep
- Low blood pressure
- Blurred vision
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Fever
- Excessive thirst
- Nausea and vomiting
- Coughing up blood
- Bloor in urine or stool
- Headache
- Loss of appetite
If you are experiencing these symptoms following surgery, seek immediate medical attention. Then, contact a medical malpractice lawyer for help filing a claim for compensation.
Legal Process of Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is complex. Sometimes, you may not need to file a lawsuit. Your lawyer may be able to negotiate a settlement with the healthcare provider’s medical malpractice insurance provider that provides you with fair compensation for the ordeal you went through.
If you are unable to secure a fair settlement, your lawyer will likely consult with a medical expert who can evaluate the circumstances of the case and validate there are legal grounds to pursue a claim. Your lawyer prepares a written complaint that sets out how you were injured and the amount of compensation you want the court to award you against the defendant. Your attorney signs a certificate of merit saying they have consulted with a medical expert who has found that you have a legal basis for your claim.
The medical provider has an opportunity to respond to your complaint. Your attorney and the defendant’s attorney may make discovery requests to prepare for trial. The court may set pretrial conferences and mediation appointments to try to resolve your case before trial. If those attempts are unsuccessful, your case proceeds to trial. Your lawyer presents your case, and the defendant’s attorney defends theirs. The judge or jury determines whether medical malpractice occurred and how much compensation to award, if applicable.
Possible Outcomes and Compensation
By pursuing a medical malpractice claim, you may be able to get the hospital to notice its safety deficiencies. The hospital may implement new policies, fire unsafe doctors, and make other changes that can improve patient care.
Additionally, you can seek compensation for the economic and non-economic damages you sustained, such as:
- Costs for additional medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Long-term care expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of future income
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Lost quality of life
Contact Our Medical Malpractice Law Firm for Legal Representation and Guidance
The medical malpractice attorneys at Powers & Santola are here to guide you through the legal process. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
