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Surgical Errors |
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 With
thousands upon thousands of surgeries being performed each year in
the United States, it is no wonder that surgical injuries are
relatively common. Whether it is related to error of the attending
surgeon, a surgical resident, anesthesiologist or nursing team,
errors in the operating room happen far too often. In addition to
injuries caused by surgical instruments negligently injuring
surrounding areas that should not have been in the operative field,
other errors include improper positioning of the patient on the
operating room table, failure to monitor, improper use of anesthetic
agents, or even wrong site surgery. It is estimated that multiple
surgical errors occur in U.S. operating rooms every day.Although many times the surgical error is apparent to the surgeon, it is not described or contained in the dictated operative note. Therefore, even a thorough examination of the records may not reveal whether there was a deviation from the standard of care, causing injury. The advent of the laparascope and the increasing frequency of outpatient surgical procedures makes discovering causes of surgical error even more difficult. The laparascope has increased the potential for inadvertent injury and the use of outpatient facilities has reduced the oversight of the surgeon, usually present at a hospital. For every surgical procedure performed there are certain known risks of the procedure that can occur without any negligence. When surgery is elective, that is non-emergent, a patient has the right to be told the risks and make an informed decision about whether to consent to said surgery. Further complicating this area of malpractice is the practice of "ghost" surgery, particularly in large teaching hospitals, where the attending surgeon allows a junior attending or resident to perform the surgery, without reflecting the same in the record or telling the patient. If you or anyone you know may have been injured as a result of surgical error, please click on the gold map of the United States to the left of the page. For more information on surgery click on the links below. Related Links:
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Telephone 201.444.1644 - 877.963.3625
175 Rock Road, Glen Rock, NJ 07452 Email Britcher,Leone & Roth © 2006 by: Britcher Leone & Roth, LLC | ||||||||||
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