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Surgical Error Lawyer in Phoenix AZ

Phoenix Surgical Errors

Many surgical procedures have risks, but the surgeon and the surgical team should take every possible care to assure their negligence or actions do not add to those risks. When the surgical team does not meet accepted standards of care, when surgical errors cause serious injury or death, talk to a medical malpractice lawyer. Medical malpractice is a demanding area of law that requires experience, financial resources, and access to medical experts. At the law firm of Snyder & Wenner, P.C. in Phoenix, Arizona, our medical malpractice attorneys have a strong reputation built on more than 25 years of experience and our record of verdicts and settlements.

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Lack of attention and care causes surgical errors

Hospitals, surgeons, and their lawyers may try to convince a patient and the patient’s family that a surgical error was not really a life-threatening (or life-ending) mistake. As attorneys experienced with medical malpractice cases, we know the right questions to ask and the right experts to consult to get to the truth of why a patient was seriously injured. Some surgical errors include:

  • Nicking a nerve or artery during surgery
  • Puncturing an organ or membrane
  • Making incisions in the wrong body part
  • Amputating the wrong limb
  • Surgical instruments or sponges left inside a patient
  • Operating on the wrong patient
  • Anesthesia mistakes
  • Performing unnecessary surgeries
  • Over-sedation
  • Improper surgical technique
wrong patient surgery malpractice

Surgical Errors and Your Legal Rights

Surgical errors happen for many reasons: a tired, overworked surgeon; illegible or missing instructions among the health care team members; lack of training; unfamiliarity with operating room equipment and technologies; or alcohol and drug addictions of team members. Whatever the cause of the error, the surgeon and/or the hospital must be held accountable for the injuries they have caused. If you have been seriously injured by a surgical error, contact a medical malpractice attorney. Snyder & Wenner, P.C. represents clients in Phoenix,Tucson, Avondale, and Scottsdale throughout Arizona, and nationwide.

Surgical Error FAQs

What To Do If A Surgeon Makes A Mistake?
If a surgeon makes an error that causes you injuries, it is important to seek immediate medical care to assess what happened. Surgeons often ignore post-surgical issues and just tell the patient “that is normal.” They do this because they do not make money on the follow-up care and do not want to be spending their time talking to the patient. After you go to another physician/hospital, make sure you keep a detailed journal of the problems you are experiencing. Do not exaggerate or embellish what is happening. Stick to the facts, including what happened, the date, and how it made you feel.
To prove a surgical malpractice case, we must show that the surgeon was negligent, that his/her negligence was a cause of your injuries, and then we must show what your injuries are. If we can prove each of these 3 elements, then you may be a surgical malpractice case. Unfortunately, some cases are not viable, and that is why it is important to have an experienced medical malpractice lawyer review your records.
Believe it or not, even in the 21st Century, wrong-site surgeries are still very common. Other common surgical errors include cutting/lacerating nearby structures, failing to recognize complications, and infections.

Surgical negligence is when a surgeon does not act as a reasonable and prudent surgeon should act in the same or similar circumstances. This is called the standard of care, and it is the standard that is acceptable for a practicing surgeon. If the surgeon falls below the standard of care, he or she is negligent.

Surgical errors most often occur because the surgeon rushes through the procedure. Why does this happen? The more surgeries he/she can perform in a day, the more money he/she makes. Failing to take one’s time to properly and adequately protect the patient’s safety is the number one cause of surgical errors.

You can sue a doctor for a failed surgery only if the issue is due to negligence. Some surgeries can fail without any negligence, and those are not subject to lawsuits. If the failed surgery was caused by negligence, and if you suffered serious/life-changing injuries due to the failure, then a lawsuit may be proper.

Generally speaking, you have 2 years from the date you became aware of the surgical error to file a lawsuit. Most times this clock starts to run on the day of the surgery or a couple days thereafter. If a sponge or other object is left inside of you, you may not know about the negligence for years. In that scenario, the clock starts running when the issue was discovered. As with all other cases, if the surgeon was an employee of the state/county, you have 6 months to file a Notice of Claim.