Surgical malpractice is responsible for the deaths and injuries of thousands of Americans every year. Surgical malpractice and surgical mistakes involves technical errors or judgment errors made by the surgeon. Surgical mistakes can lead to catastrophic injuries or even death for the patient. Because of the complications of surgery, surgical mistakes sometimes occur and the surgeon doesn't even realize the mistake was made, until it is too late. Surgical mistakes can be made by skilled surgeons as well as with inexperienced surgeons, and can occur with simple operations as well as the complex ones.
Surgical mistakes occur in medical centers, including for elective procedures, such as cosmetic surgery. In situations like this, the medical center may not have a trained medical staff prepared to deal with an emergency situation. For example, many surgical centers and doctor's offices do not have a full staff of operating room nurses, critical care nurses, or board-certified anesthesiologists available for surgery or on-call if an emergency arises.
However, even in hospitals, where a trained staff of medical professionals may be available, mistakes can still be made, and severe injuries or even death can result from medical negligence. It is important to remember that even in hospitals, a doctor or surgeon may not be available during a critical emergency. If the hospital fails to properly prepare its staff for a sudden emergency, a surgeon that is needed during an emergency operation may be involved with another surgery, or offsite. In situations involving emergencies, every minute counts. If a surgeon arrives too late, the patient may be permanently injured or even die as a result of the delay.
Surgical malpractice includes the puncture of an organ near the surgical site, which could lead to dangerous bodily fluids entering the organ, causing an infection, even death, surgery on the wrong side of the patient's body or removal of the wrong body part, or unsanitary or contaminated medical products.
In addition to non-elective surgery mistakes, elective surgery malpractice occurs as well. These areas include bariatric and cosmetic surgery, such as laparoscopic or lap band, gastric bypass, stomach stapling, and liposuction.
Cosmetic surgery malpractice areas include liposuction, breast augmentation, facelifts, rhinoplasty or "nose job".