Medication Errors During Surgery
To practice medicine is to make life or death decisions quickly, based on a nearly infinite array of factors. The creators of online content about the alleged incompetence or greed of physicians can run their mouths all day long about what the doctors should have done in a given situation, but in the end, the only people whose opinions hold weight in these cases are doctors who have handled similar cases in their own work. Before you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit, three doctors who have never met the patient but who have worked on similar cases must review the patient’s medical records and decide whether they think that the doctor breached the standard of care. If the alleged medical error happened while the patient was anesthetized, the doctors who evaluate the claim must think of what they would have done moment by moment. Sometimes the error is not which medication or which dose the anesthesiologist used, but when he or she administered it; giving a medication too early or too late can affect the outcome. If you suffered injury because of a medication error during surgery, contact a Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice attorney.
Patient Suffers Nearly Fatal Adverse Reaction to Medication While Under Anesthesia
When patients are under anesthesia, physicians must monitor them continuously and adjust the dose of medication appropriate. Too little of a drug could mean that the patient would feel the pain during surgery or suffer severe postoperative pain, but too much of an anesthetic could lead to dangerously low heart rates or respiratory depression. Anesthesiologists must work in the presence of a “crash cart” of drugs that can reverse adverse reactions such as respiratory depression or dangerously high body temperature; the availability of crash carts is one of the factors that determines which surgeries surgeons can perform in which facilities; for example, they can only perform low risk procedures that require relatively low levels of sedation in outpatient clinics.
At age 74, Dr. J. Lancelot Lester had no plans to retire. He was a heart surgeon, and his work helped him stay young; the only thing that didn’t make him feel young was back pain. He was so healthy, in fact, that he had never been prescribed opioid pain killers at high doses or for long periods; when he underwent surgery, the opioid doses were low.
Dr. Lester had back surgery in May 2019, and the surgeon gave him Dilaudid, an opioid pain killer. Dr. Lester’s heart rate and breathing decreased to dangerous levels, but 15 minutes went by before anyone gave him naloxone, a drug that quickly reverses the effects of opioid overdose. He survived, but he remained in a coma for the rest of his life. His family sued the hospital for medical malpractice.
Set Up a Consultation Today
A personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation for your medical bills after a medication error during surgery. Contact Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or call 954-566-9919 to explore your potential recovery options today.
Source:
palmbeachpost.com/news/20181211/prominent-jfk-heart-surgeon-fights-for-life-as-family-sues-hospital
