When you need surgery, it’s likely that you’ll have to be sedated for the procedure. Usually, an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist will be in charge of your sedation and will use anesthesia to do so. When this process is not executed properly, the result can be catastrophic for the patient.
Read on to learn more about anesthesia errors.
Anesthesia Errors May Be More Common Than You’d Think
According to a study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “Medication errors are common in [the] health care system and reported to be the seventh most common cause of death overall.”
In a study of the Canadian Society of Anaesthesiologists, 30% of the people within the sample “admitted to experiencing at least more than one error in their lifetime.”
A study by the Japanese Society of Anaesthesiologists revealed 233 medication errors over an eight-year period. The leading types of errors were:
- Overdose – 25%
- Substitution error – 23%
- Omission error – 21%
In New Zealand, a total of 89% of anaesthesiologist survey respondents admitted to making a drug error at some point.
Various Types of Errors
There are several ways that the administration of anesthesia can be improperly executed, such as the following:
- The patient isn’t a viable candidate for anesthesia.
- Improper anesthesia dosage.
- The patient’s vital signs are not closely monitored during anesthesia administration.
- Delivery of anesthesia to the patient is delayed.
- The patient is sedated for a dangerous amount of time.
- The anesthesiologist fails to recognize and respond to anesthesia complications.
- The patient hasn’t been provided with adequate instructions for before, during, or after the procedure.
- The equipment used is insufficient.
- The pulse oximeter alarm is shut off.
- The anesthesiologist fails to intubate the patient.
Our Team is Here For You
If you’ve been harmed by a medical professional due to an anesthesia error or another type of medical malpractice, our attorneys here at Garau Germano, P.C. may be able to help. Our team is highly skilled in the area of medical malpractice law, and we have helped hundreds of other people just like you obtain justice. Don’t hesitate to contact our firm with your case right away.
Call the anesthesia error attorneys at Garau Germano, P.C. today by calling 317-978-9973 to discuss the details of your case.