Surgical Wrongful Death Malpractice Cases

Few patients actually enjoy surgeries, but most recognize the healing benefits that can come from a successful surgery. Surgeries cause patients untold anxiety because the patient is rendered completely helpless and submits him- or herself to invasion by doctors and medical devices. Patients are regularly told by their surgeons that this surgery or that procedure is simply “routine” as a way to decrease the patient’s anxiety and hesitancy concerning what is about to take place. If these surgeries are “routine,” though, why do so many patients die during them – as many as one or two out of every one hundred, according to 2006 figures.

Causes of Surgical Wrongful Deaths

The unfortunate truth is that many surgical deaths may have been prevented if a member of the surgical team acted with additional care while carrying out the procedure. A death that occurs because of the negligence or carelessness of another is called a “wrongful” death – “wrongful” in the sense that it did not need to occur.

These wrongful deaths on the operating table can occur because of any number of factors:

• Anesthesia errors: Anesthesia is necessary to sedate the patient and render him or her unconscious for the procedure. This helps regulate the patient’s heart rate and blood pressure, which would skyrocket if the patient were awake to experience the surgery. Anesthesia also numbs the area to be operated on so as to further reduce the patient’s discomfort during and after the surgery. Administering anesthesia is a delicate science, however, and if a patient receives too much anesthesia or has an adverse reaction to the anesthesia, death can result.
• “Wrong” procedures: The surgical team is supposed to carefully plan for a surgery so each member knows the patient upon whom they are operating, the procedure they are to perform, and the body part that is to be operated on. When the surgical team rushes through these preparations, mistakes are more likely to occur: the wrong person may be operated on, the wrong procedure may be performed, or the wrong body part may be removed. Any one of these “mistakes” can deprive the patient of the benefit of the surgery and instead cause him or her to die prematurely.
• Infections: One would think that the hospital is a sterile place, but in truth these places can be breeding grounds for bacteria – some of which are resistant to treatment. When a person’s body is opened up as it is during a surgery, it is highly susceptible to infection from bacteria and viruses. The surgery team must take precautions to prevent their patient from becoming infected while he or she is “under the knife.”
• Surgical complications: In some cases, a patient develops complications following a surgery that threaten his or her life. The hospital staff and surgical team are supposed to monitor the patient’s health after a surgery to ensure he or she is recovering as expected. If the team fails to do this, the patient’s health may quickly deteriorate and he or she may die.

Sometimes, though, a surgical death is not “wrongful” because the surgical team did everything that could be reasonably expected to preserve the patient’s life. Although the surviving family members’ grief will likely be the same regardless of whether the patient’s death was wrongful or otherwise, only “wrongful” deaths will enable the surviving family members to pursue compensation for their losses.

Proving a Surgical Wrongful Death Case

In bringing a suit for compensation following a wrongful death, the surviving family members have a heavy burden to meet: They must show that a member of the surgical team made an error that a reasonable and prudent medical professional of a similar background and facing a similar situation would not have made and this error resulted in the patient’s death. This means that surviving family members cannot recover compensation for their loved one’s death simply because the surgeon made a “bad decision.” If the surgeon was faced with a life-or-death situation and could choose one of two courses of action and each potential course had similar merits and drawbacks, liability will not attach regardless of what path the surgeon took and regardless of whether the path chosen led to the patient’s death. It is only where no similar medical professional would have done the acts that the surgeon or medical professional did in the deceased patient’s case that liability exists.

Any type of medical malpractice case is fraught with challenges. In nearly every case, expert witnesses will need to review the available medical records and be available to testify if the deceased patient’s family hopes to recover compensation. Stern Law, PLLC has the resources and connections with appropriate experts to help complete timely and thorough reviews of potential surgical wrongful death medical malpractice cases. Where preventable surgical errors caused your loved one’s death, Stern Law will fight zealously on your family’s behalf. Contact Stern Law, PLLC at (844) 808-7529 for prompt assistance with your surgical wrongful death case.