Surgical Error

When you have any surgery, you are in a vulnerable situation and you trust the medical professionals who are performing the surgery to provide you with the highest standard of care. When medical staff are negligent in providing you with a reasonable standard of care, serious injuries or even death can occur. Each year, Florida residents die or sustain permanent injury due to surgical error in Miami and other Florida hospitals.

If surgical error that has caused serious injury for you, you will want to consult with a personal injury attorney in Miami or your community. In many cases, surgical errors are preventable and it can be difficult to get answers about exactly what has led to your injury unless you speak with a personal injury attorney. You can always reach the Flaxman Law to schedule a free accident consultation about your situation.

The most common errors include:

• Anesthesia errors – Too little or too much anesthesia can lead to loss of function, nerve damage or permanent brain injuries. These types of errors can also cause a patient to regain consciousness during surgery.
• Surgical instrument errors – Using incorrect instruments or using surgical instruments incorrectly can cause the surgeon to cut an artery, cause internal bleeding, or cause other serious publication for a patient.
• Foreign objects – In some cases, foreign objects such as sponges, medical tools, and dressings are left inside patients after surgery and this can cause severe infection, organ damage, or internal bleeding. If not caught in time, this mistake can kill a patient.
• Catheter injuries – In many cases, patients require catheters during their surgery, but when medical staff are negligent in monitoring catheter use and in inserting catheters, severe blood vessel damage can occur or air can enter your bloodstream, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Wrong surgery – In some cases, patients have the wrong body part operated on or get surgery intended for another patient. In many cases, these errors are caused by recklessness or pre-operative negligence.
• Poor sanitation – Poor sterilization of surgical equipment and anything else in the surgical room can lead to severe infection and complications.
• Unnecessary Surgery – Misdiagnosis in Miami and South Florida or lab errors can lead to unnecessary surgeries, which can put a patient at unneeded risk.
• Improper surgical techniques – In some cases, surgeons may use the incorrect surgical techniques or outdated surgical practices, leading to unnecessary pain and suffering or injuries to the patient.
• Inadequately trained surgeons
• Poor patient monitoring – At any point during surgery, serious complications can arise. While not all of these complications can be predicted, medical staff need to properly monitor a patient before, during, and after surgery so that they can notice and appropriately respond in the event of a complication.
• Prolonged surgery – An excessively long surgery can put added strain on a patient's system and can increase the risk of complications and anesthesiology errors. Correct diagnosis and pre-surgery planning can help prevent this type of mistake.
• Post-operative negligence – It is important for patients to be monitored after surgery to help prevent blood clots, infections, pulmonary embolism, and cardiac distress.
• Wrong incision – Incorrect incisions can cause stretching and other complications. Often, this is caused by negligence, and poor pre-surgery monitoring and planning.
• Operating room equipment malfunctions – Product defects in Miami and Florida that affect operating room equipment and medical devices can be devastating during surgery. In addition to malfunctions, incorrect use of equipment can be fatal or can cause permanent injury.
• Delayed surgery – In some cases, delaying surgery can increase the risk of negative outcomes are complications. For example, patients who are made to wait too long before getting appendix surgery if they have appendicitis can suffer from severe complications on the operating room table.

The Flaxman Law Group legal team has three conveniently located offices in South Florida and is able to meet with you in your hospital room, home, or workplace if you are too injured to travel. If you need a medical malpractice attorney in Miami or anywhere in South Florida, you can always reach the experienced legal team at the Flaxman Law Group to arrange for a free accident consultation to discuss your case. The Flaxman Law Group legal team is a full-service law firm with more than 25 years of experience helping personal injury victims in Miami and across South Florida.