Wichita Surgical Error Lawyer

While we understand that sometimes surgeries are important and necessary to improve our health when faced with the reality of needing surgery, most of us are often nervous. Properly trained doctors and medical professionals will tell us the risks, possible side effects, and benefits of receiving the surgery we’re about to have. As long as the surgeons follow the plan and do their job correctly, these procedures can be successful.

But what happens when something goes wrong? If a surgeon or someone else on the surgical staff makes a mistake, it can lead to severe injury and life-altering consequences.

If you or someone you know has suffered a surgery injury due to the negligence of your doctor or one of their staff, you can seek compensation, and an experienced Wichita surgical error lawyer from Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska LLC can help.

How Do These Mistakes Occur During Operations?

Most often, when a surgical error occurs, it’s because a medical professional involved in your care didn’t pay close enough attention to your surgery plan or your charts. This can lead to issues, such as an object being left inside a patient or surgery being done on the wrong site. Some of the most common reasons for medical malpractice cases due to surgery mistakes are:

• Poor pre-operative planning: Failing to properly review the surgery’s risks and any diet requirements with the patient may lead to complications during surgery
• Fatigue: Doctors are known to work long shifts and may be working on little sleep, which puts their patients at risk
• Unnecessary shortcuts: Sometimes a doctor may take a medical shortcut to save time during surgery, but this may lead to a medical error, such as forgetting a surgical item inside a patient
• Incompetence: If an inexperienced doctor is performing surgery, they should be guided by a more experienced surgeon
• Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol: Doctors or their staff who may be inebriated or under the influence of drugs should never be in an operating room
• Lack of communication or miscommunication: Your doctor and their staff should communicate properly with each other and with you to ensure your surgery is safe and successful
• Improper post-surgery review: Patients after surgery are at risk for infection and other complications and should be properly monitored by their doctor or other staff

When errors like any of these mentioned occur, it can lead to severe injury or even the wrongful death of the patient. It is important that all doctors hold to their duty of care with every patient to prevent the following injuries:

• Performing the wrong surgical procedure: Paperwork mix-ups and miscommunication happen all the time, but if they occur before or during surgery, it can lead to a doctor performing the wrong procedure on the patient
• Performing surgery on the wrong site: In some cases, the correct procedure is performed, only the surgeon operates on the wrong side or wrong part of the patient’s body
• Leaving an object inside the patient: This usually happens when a doctor feels rushed or if they are distracted or fatigued. That can cause a patient to develop an infection or lead to internal damage depending on what the object is and where in the body it was left
• Nerve or internal organ damage: Sometimes, a doctor’s hand slips, or they drop a surgical instrument inside the patient. This kind of negligence, even if quickly remedied, can still cause irreparable internal injuries
• Anesthesia errors: Administering the wrong amount of anesthesia can cause a patient to wake up too soon or not wake up at all

All of these surgical mistakes and their correlating injuries are entirely preventable, but even so, they do happen, and when they do, the affected patients deserve compensation for their injuries, and those responsible should be held accountable for their errors.

Next Steps After Surgical Injury

When surgical errors occur, the patient suffers, sometimes permanently, but they shouldn’t have to suffer alone. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a surgeon’s negligence in Wichita or anywhere in Kansas, it’s in your best interest to seek legal help.

At Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska LLC, our attorneys have the necessary skills and experience to hold the doctors, surgical staff, nurses, or anyone else involved in your medical care who could be held responsible for your injuries accountable.

We understand how painful and confusing cases like yours are, and we will fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact our office today for your free consultation with a Wichita surgical error lawyer. We will ensure your case is taken seriously, filed on time, and pursued until justice is served.