While medical procedures are meant to help heal patients, there’s no denying how painful the more involved processes are, such as surgeries. These procedures involve cutting open a patient, and without anesthesia, patients would experience intense pain on top of the distressing experience of being cut open.
Anesthesia helps patients by inducing a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. It eases them into a sedated state, allowing medical professionals to perform surgeries and other delicate procedures without fear of causing pain. However, even for a drug meant to help with painful surgeries, there can be risks of improper anesthesia dosing.
How anesthesia malpractice can happen
In most hospitals, a specialist doctor called an anesthesiologist administers anesthesia medication. They work with a nurse specializing in the medication to sedate a patient. This team also monitors a patient’s vitals while under medication.
But anesthesiologists and their nurse companions can make mistakes. The most common mistakes they can commit include:
- Dosing errors: Whether the professional administering the medication is inexperienced or careless, there’s always a risk that the dosage could be higher or lower than required.
- Faulty equipment: It’s also possible that a hospital could have faulty or old equipment that can’t correctly administer anesthesia.
- Failure to monitor the patient’s condition: Like any drug, anesthesia can have side effects on some people, so professionals must closely monitor their patients for any dangerous changes.
- Injecting anesthesia in the wrong place: Regional anesthesia involves injecting the drug into a patient. But injecting the body in the wrong place can cause injuries and other medical complications.
What are the risks of anesthesia malpractice?
Improper anesthesia dosing can lead to surgical injuries and infections. In the worst cases, the mistakes can lead to paralysis, organ, brain and artery damage, coma, seizures, strokes and even death.
If you or a loved one are suffering from complications related to anesthesia, you should consider contacting a lawyer with experience handling medical malpractice lawsuits. A lawyer can help you hold the negligent party accountable and recover compensation for the injuries and damages you’ve suffered due to the medical error.
