Anesthesia Errors – Medical Malpractice

Understaffed hospitals and overworked personnel, including nurses, nursing assistants, doctors and anesthesiologists, and a lack of accountability are cause for serious concern within our health care system.

Anesthesia mistakes are considered medical malpractice when they were preventable errors or when the doctor, nurse, or anesthesiologist administering the drugs, should have known better or was negligent.

Anesthesia is given to patients during medical procedures in order to help the patient avoid or minimize pain and distress that they might otherwise feel if they were not numbed or unconscious.

There are a variety of anesthesia methods, including:

• Local anesthesia, to numb a particular area of the body, such as a tooth or the bladder

• General anesthesia, which puts the patient into an unconscious state

• Spinal or epidural anesthesia, which is given by injection near the spine to numb the spine

• Regional anesthesia, which numbs a larger body area, such as a leg or arm

• Dissociative anesthesia, which puts a patient into a trance-like state

Errors can occur when administering or monitoring any of the above. These errors include:

• Too much or too little delivery of one or more drugs

• Administering the wrong anesthesia drug

• Failure to administer oxygen during surgery or to appropriately insert the anesthesia tube

• Delay in the anesthesia delivery

• Lack of appropriate instruction to the patient before the anesthesia, such as avoiding food or liquid intake

• Using defective medical equipment during anesthesia application

These anesthesia errors can cause:

• Minor problems – such as dizziness or ringing noises in the ears; and

• Major trauma – such as brain damage or organ damage, birth defects, cardiovascular collapse, seizure, heart problems, asphyxiation, coma, and death.

When anesthesiologists make mistakes, they can and should be held accountable for the tragedy that ensues.

Experienced Anesthesia Error and Medical Malpractice Attorney

The central New Jersey office of Harold J. Gerr, Attorney at Law, represents those who have suffered serious injury or families who have lost loved ones as a result of an anesthesia error. We have been fighting for the rights of the injured for three decades.

Our medical malpractice and personal injury law firm carefully selects the cases we handle, so that we can provide the highest levels of service and personal attention to each client. Contact us online or call our office at 732-537-8570 (toll-free at 1-877-249-4600).