Operating room error cases include obvious examples of medical malpractice, such as when surgeons leave sponges or surgical instruments inside their patients. Operating room error cases also include situations when surgeons and nurses perform surgery on the wrong body part, or injure other parts of the body, including the spinal cord, blood vessels, and nerves. Other examples of operating room mistakes include anesthesia errors which cause brain damage or other injuries, medication errors, and even fires in the operating room. Surgical malpractice cases can be difficult to prove and require the expertise of experienced Chicago operating room error attorneys.
Any time a patient goes into the operating room, they are entrusting their health and their very life to the doctor and surgical staff. For this reason, no operation can be considered “routine.” The health care professionals inside that operating room are responsible to take all reasonable and appropriate measures to make sure that deadly mistakes are not made during the surgery. Unfortunately, operating room errors claim the lives of thousands each year and cost patients and insurance companies around $1.5 billion a year.
It is widely understood that things sometimes go wrong with highly risky surgeries, but some of the worst examples of negligence occur when the staff fails to recognize and correct an error made until it is too late. For example, patients sometimes display clear symptoms of a problem during recovery and post-op. When these symptoms are not treated, the patient may leave the hospital or clinic in far worse condition than before the surgery, sometimes resulting in a permanent illness or even death.
When a doctor or other member of the medical staff makes a preventable error in the operating room that results in adverse negative effects on the patient, they must be held to account. Otherwise, these types of mistakes will continue to occur, putting more lives in jeopardy. If you believe that you are the victim of an operating room error, the first thing you should do is contact the experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. At HM&M, we have a proven track record of success in representing victims of operating room errors and other forms of medical malpractice. Contact our office today for a free consultation
For a free consultation, contact Hurley McKenna & Mertz, P.C. today at 312-553-4900 or fill out our online form to have a lawyer contact you.
