Anesthesiologists are one of the most critical members of a surgical operation. In addition to providing the pain relief for patient's during a surgery, they monitor the patient to make sure they wake up properly after the surgery. Extensive medical training is required for an anesthesiologist or certified register nurse anesthetist. A patient under anesthesia requires careful monitoring to ensure they are not having an adverse reaction to the drug being used, or the surgery itself. While
anesthesia errors can often be fixed relatively quickly during an operation, some errors may result in a catastrophic injury, coma, brain damage, or even death.
While many patients discuss their surgery and go over options with the surgeon, most patients rarely ever meet their anesthesiologist. An anesthesiologist or certified register nurse anesthetist may be poorly trained or improperly prepared for an emergency. While anesthesia errors often happen in hospitals, they also occur in walk in medical centers, medical spas, cosmetic clinics, and dental offices. Elective gastric bypass surgery or even cosmetic surgeries are a couple examples where a patient may experience an anesthesia error outside the hospital setting. Visit gastric bypass surgery complications to view a brief video.
The anesthesiologist has complete control over the patient's heart rate, breathing, and all critical life functions during surgery. Anesthesia errors and medical monitoring problems are among the most frequent reasons that patients are seriously injured or die during an operation. However, there are many situations where patients actually come through successfully with their operation, only to run into critical problems post-surgery, in the post-anesthesia recovery room. A medical mistake made by the anesthesiologist, after the surgery is complete, can result in a catastrophic injury or even death as well.
If you have suffered a serious injury as a result of an anesthesia error, or if someone you love has been injured or even died as a result of an anesthesia error, you may have a medical malpractice or negligence claim. For more information, contact Dr. Bruce Fagel, who is a licensed medical doctor and a medical malpractice lawyer, specializing in anesthesia errors.