Surgical errors can have catastrophic consequences. Often, they can leave patients with life-changing injuries. These patients may then start a medical malpractice lawsuit to seek compensation for reduced earning capacity, lost wages, pain and suffering, accumulating medical bills and much more.
While every case is unique, there are some distinct types of surgical errors that show up on a consistent basis in the United States. Three examples are noted below.
Wrong-site surgery
When surgery is carried out at the wrong location, it is known as wrong-site surgery. An example could be operating on the wrong side of someone’s body, such as performing surgery on their left elbow instead of their right elbow. Another example could be operating at the wrong level of the spinal cord, such as near an incorrect vertebra—even when spinal surgery itself was needed.
Wrong-patient surgery
One of the most critical errors is when a surgeon carries out the correct procedure, but they do so on the wrong patient. This is sometimes a communication error within the hospital. Perhaps the surgeon was given the wrong medical records or the wrong patient was sent to the operating room.
Wrong-procedure events
Finally, there are also cases where a doctor simply carries out the wrong procedure entirely. They do have the correct patient who was scheduled for surgery that day, but they perform the wrong operation, meaning the patient does not get the care that they actually needed and may also suffer additional harm due to the unnecessary surgery.
All three of these situations can be life-altering events for a patient, so it is critical that they understand exactly what legal options they have to address medical malpractice.