Common Anesthesia Errors By Florida Providers

Anesthesia enables Florida health care providers to perform surgeries and diagnostic procedures that would never even be possible without some pain management for the patient. However, in a recent study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers discovered that around 2,140 patients were affected by mistakes in administering anesthesia annually. There were approximately 130 fatalities resulting from these errors, but deaths fortunately declined from the start to end of the study period. Still, researchers noted that the risk of anesthesia errors is still a concern in clinical settings.

Many people wonder how these mistakes can happen, and the simple explanation is negligence. When anesthesiologists deviate from the applicable standard of care, they can cause serious harm to patients. You should consult with a Miami anesthesia errors attorney about your options, but a look at frequent mistakes is useful.

Common Errors with Anesthesia

 There is a lot of prep work that goes on before a physician administers anesthesia, since the patient’s age, weight, medical history, underlying conditions, and many other factors impact the medication. Failure to thoroughly evaluate your medical records and comply with other protocols often results in: 

• A doctor applying too much of the medication, possibly leading to anesthesia overdose
• Administering a dose that is too low, putting the patient at risk of anesthesia awareness
• Using the wrong anesthesia based upon the medications a patient currently takes, causing adverse drug reactions
• Allergic reactions
• Not administering the anesthesia according to timing of the procedure, leading to delays in the medication becoming effective
• Failure to properly monitor the patient and vital signs during the surgery

In addition, anesthesia errors could be the result of flawed equipment, in which case you could have a medical malpractice claim for defective medical devices against a manufacturer.

Implications for the Patient 

General anesthesia affects activities and functioning in the brain to prevent pain, so brain damage is a common consequence when health care providers fail to properly administer anesthesia. Other implications include: 

• Damage to the heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs
• Hypoxia, a condition that results from low oxygen levels that kill off brain cells
• Cerebral palsy and other birth injuries when administered to a woman in labor
• Ringing in the ears
• Rashes and inflammation
• Heart arrhythmia, abnormal heart rate, and pulmonary conditions
• Spinal cord injuries, when a provider implements spinal anesthesia to block pain
• Coma
• Death

Fortunately, in a successful med mal claim for anesthesia mistakes, you may qualify to recover compensation for medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses.

Discuss Legal Options with a Florida Anesthesia Errors Lawyer

The implications can be serious and long-term, so it is important to pursue all available remedies if you were harmed by an anesthesia mistake. For more information on how we support injured victims, please contact Freidin Brown, P.A. We are happy to schedule a no-cost case review at our offices in Miami or Fort Myers, FL. After learning about your situation, a med mal attorney can advise you on options.

Source:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31485589/