New York Surgical Error Injury Lawyers
We trust medical professionals with our safety and our lives when we are at our most vulnerable. We expect that they are educated, qualified, and will perform their function at the highest caliber, dedicated only to what is in our best interests as patients. We hold medical professionals to such a high standard because if a doctor acts negligently or improperly and makes a mistake, the consequences are, almost by default, very severe and often deadly. Surgical errors can occur in a wide variety of ways, including failing to recognize and repair an injury to an organ, leaving an object inside the patient after surgery, or simply performing a procedure incorrectly and injuring the patient as a result.
If you or a loved one were treated by a doctor who committed an error during a surgical procedure, you are entitled to recovery for the injury you have suffered. The knowledgeable and effective medical malpractice lawyers at the Law Office of Taran M. Provost, PLLC can help you get the compensation you need after a surgical error leaves you injured in New York. Contact our offices in Poughkeepsie or Montgomery if you’ve suffered from a surgical error injury in the Hudson Valley.
What is the “Acceptable” Risk of Surgery?
Surgeries inherently carry some risk, and not every complication that arises in surgery is the fault of a negligent doctor. Your doctor is required to explain the risks of a surgical procedure to you or your medical proxy before undergoing any procedure, especially if it is invasive and the risks are severe. Unfortunately, even a properly performed surgery can have complications or lead to the death of a patient, especially if the patient is already in a life-threatening condition or the procedure is particularly risky.
However, the situation is very different when a physician’s mistake causes an injury. Doctors may be overworked and tired, working long shifts without sufficient rest. They may resort to over-the-counter or prescription drugs to keep themselves awake and alert, creating a serious risk to their patients. A surgeon may deviate from the proper, approved surgical methods for a variety of reasons including simple negligence, leading to unnecessary complications. Surgical mistakes can lead to damaged organs, extended hospital stays, additional costly procedures, temporary or permanent loss of bodily functions, long-term negative effects and even death.
If a complication is the result of a surgeon’s error, then the doctor and possibly the hospital or surgery center is likely to be liable for the mistake. Speak with a knowledgeable New York surgical error attorney after a medical procedure goes awry to help you investigate the true cause of the resulting injury. Let your personal injury attorney assist you in determining if mistakes were made and if you are justly owed compensation as a result.
What Causes Surgical Mistakes?
A variety of factors can cause a surgical error. They may be honest mistakes, or they may be the result of the surgeon or another member of the surgical team failing to act with reasonable care before, during, or after a procedure. Common reasons for surgical error include:
- Inexperience
- Poor preoperative planning
- Failure or refusal to recognize and correct for a mistake
- Drug or alcohol use
- Fatigue
- Neglect
Anything that leads to a doctor causing unnecessary damage outside the acceptable risk of the procedure generally constitutes a surgical error, whatever the reason. The responsible parties must be held accountable and forced to compensate the victim and their family for the resulting damages.
Common Surgical Mistakes
There are many ways a doctor can make a mistake during surgery. Some of the more common errors that lead to medical malpractice claims include the following:
- Anesthesia error, either causing overdose or leaving a patient insufficiently anesthetized, resulting in trauma
- Leaving behind an object, such as a surgical tool, in a patient after surgery
- Operating on the wrong organ, body part, or even patient
- Failing to adequately disclose the risks of a procedure to the patient or the patient’s medical proxy
- Causing unnecessary errors to other parts of the body during surgery
- Internal bleeding caused by a surgical error
- Mistakes leading to disfigurement
- Inadequate closing of a wound leading to improper healing or unnecessary scarring
- Performing procedures that were not preauthorized
- Injury to a baby during childbirth
- Death of a baby and/or mother during childbirth
- Misdiagnosis leading to unnecessary surgery
- Improper dressing of wounds, leading to infection
Get Help With Your Surgical Error Claim in New York’s Hudson Valley
Get the help you need receiving compensation after a surgical error by contacting the seasoned, dedicated, and passionate Hudson Valley medical malpractice lawyers at the Law Office of Taran M. Provost, PLLC for a free consultation in Poughkeepsie or Montgomery at 845-675-3243.
