While it has greatly facilitated surgery in the area of pain management, anesthesia still harbors the potential to seriously injure or kill patients when wrongly administered. Anesthesiologists must be meticulous in their dosage, timing, monitoring, and overall judgment when applying anesthesia to properly numb the pain without causing any harm to the patient. When negligence enters the equation, a number of devastating anesthesia errors can occur.
The most prevalent and harmful anesthesia error is improper dosage. If too much anesthesia is administered, the patient can experience pain, cardiovascular damage, asphyxiation, and death. Not enough anesthesias will render the patient unable to speak, but still able to feel the pain. Both scenarios are easily avoided when doses are properly labeled.
The timing with which anesthesia is delivered is critical to support the proper numbing effect for the patient. Faulty equipment, however, such as bad needles, vaporizers, and IV lines can prolong the delivery. If any equipment leaks, the patient may be under anesthetized while the attending medical staff is completely unaware of the problem.
It is also the anesthesiologist's duty to closely observe both the subjective, if any, and objective feedback from the patient while they are under anesthesia, to assess their level of consciousness and ensure that they are properly sedated. When this doesn't happen, a patient is liable to wake up mid-surgery, and the anesthesiologist is liable for the damages.
In the event that you are affected by an anesthesia error, it's important to establish a legal premise so that you can receive the compensation that you deserve. Experienced Baltimore Medical malpractice lawyers such as the Snyder Litigation Team are devoted to making this happen with a lengthy history of doing so. From the first consultation to the final settlement, the Snyder Litigation Team will make your voice heard.