Artificial disc replacement surgery is a medical procedure designed to treat chronic back or neck pain caused by degenerative disc disease. In rare cases, medical negligence or malpractice can have catastrophic results including spinal cord injuries that severely impede the patient’s mobility and quality of life.
Shockingly, the incidence of surgical items mistakenly left inside patients has remained steady over the years. UpToDate estimates that retained surgical items occur in 1 in every 5500 to 18,760 inpatient operations, but may be as high as 1 of every 1000 to 1500 abdominal cavity operations, and even more common during emergency surgery. When a surgical instrument or sponge is mistakenly left inside a patient after surgery, medical malpractice is inevitably the cause.
The ability to maintain a patent airway is the most critical duty of an anesthesia provider. When a doctor fails to anticipate a “difficult airway” or mismanages a patient’s oxygenation during surgery, the results are often catastrophic, leading to permanent brain damage or death. This article explores how our legal team evaluates these complex cases, focusing on pre-operative assessments, emergency protocols, and the standard of care in PA.
An injury to the bile duct occurring during the course of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which injury results in recurring problems with the potential for permanent liver damage should be considered a case of possible medical negligence until proven otherwise. In general, when appropriate surgical safeguards are employed in the performance of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy there is no unintended injury to the bile ducts. Unintended injury to the bile ducts when it occurs is often a result of doctors having failed to employ those safeguards deemed appropriate for the performance of such a procedure.
