Every surgical patient must sign a form before undergoing the scheduled operation. That form states that the same patient understands and accepts the known risks, which have become associated with any surgery. Commission of an error that falls in the region beyond the known risks qualifies as an example of medical malpractice.
Personal Injury Lawyer in Milton knows that unexpected errors typically result from performance of an act that falls beyond the boundaries of the risks that have been recognized by both surgical patients and by the professionals that carry out the risky operation. Not every example of medical malpractice takes place for the same reason.
Possible reasons for performance of a surgical error:
• Operation performed by an incompetent surgeon, one that did not have a sufficient amount of training.
• Head surgeon failed to demand completion of pre-operative planning. All members of the surgeon’s team should be present at the time of such training.
• Surgeon decides to skip one or more steps, while in the process of performing a given procedure.
• Poor communications between the surgeon and the members of his or her team.
• Operating doctor is extremely fatigued.
• Operating doctor used drugs or alcohol just hours before donning the surgical gown and stepping into the room where the operation would take place.
• Surgeon’s negligence invites occurrence of a problem. For instance, a careless and neglectful physician might forget to ensure adequate sterilization of the selected tools/instruments.
Linking the reason for a surgical error to an example of such an unacceptable mistake:
Poor pre-operative planning could cause a surgical team to focus on the wrong part of the patient’s body. It could even result in completion of an operation on the wrong patient.
A careless and neglectful surgeon might leave a piece of equipment inside of the patient lying on the operating room table.
Poor communications can affect the administration of medications. By the same token, it can diminish the doctor’s ability to coordinate his or her actions with those of the anesthetist.
At least one doctor has admitted to going ahead with an operation after having enjoyed more than a small measure of alcohol. That example of malpractice occurred when the surgeon carried out a god-like act. He purposely ignored the warning against stepping into the surgery room after downing some alcohol. He did that in response to information that had been on the patient’s chart.
Such a decision qualifies as an act that goes beyond the sphere of known and accepted risks. For that reason, it belongs on a listing of true and recorded surgical errors. More unsettling is the fact that such a mistake later proved capable of triggering commission of deadly negligence, which occurred during a planned operation.