When you are scheduling and preparing for a surgery, there is an understanding that anesthesia will likely be used. While the complications associated with the specific medications used for sedation are explained, these known risks are not always the cause for a patient suffering harm related to the anesthesia used during a procedure. They could be related to an anesthesia mistake.
Errors in anesthesia
When it comes to errors in anesthesia, the main culprits are due to lack of expertise, lack of knowledge of the equipment or devise or due to impatience, inattention or carelessness. When an anesthesia mistake is made and the patient is harmed, it is often due to a medication error that got them there.
A medication error related to anesthesia could occur during the preparation of the medication, the administration of the medication or the recording of the medications delivered.
Medication errors
While anesthesiologists are taught how to prepare, label and arrange medications prior to the procedure, human error or negligence could enter the process. A patient could get too little of a medication, too much of a medication or the entirely wrong medication. Any of these scenarios could cause complications during the procedure or harm the health of the patient.
As such, when a patient has suffered because of a medication error made with their anesthesia, is it important that they consider their rights and options. A medical malpractice action could help establish cause, liability and the damages suffered. As a result, it could hold a negligent medical professional accountable while also providing compensation for the harmed patient.