Surgery Malpractice - Lawyer and Lawsuit

Knee Surgery Surgery malpractice can include any error relating to surgery. These errors may be attributable to surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians and other medical professionals. In order to prevail in a surgery malpractice suit you have to prove that the medical professional acted unreasonably and that the medical professional’s conduct was a direct cause of injury. Unless both issues are proved, there is no surgery malpractice case.

There are some situations where there is little doubt as to the negligence of the medical professional. For example:

The surgeon takes out the wrong organ. This happened recently in Minnesota. Surgeons at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park took out a person’s healthy kidney and left the cancerous kidney.
Administration of the wrong dose of medication or the wrong medication. In one of our cases, an elderly patient was administered 10 times the dose of medication. The patient died.
Failure to treat a medical condition. If in the course of the surgery, a medical condition appears that is not treated, there may be serious consequences. We recently recovered $950,000 for a one of our clients where a hospital failed to treat an infection, which led to septic arthritis.
Surgery performed on the wrong body part. This would include taking out the wrong body part as mentioned above. It also includes surgery on the wrong eye, arm or other body part. This is per se negligence (surgery malpractice) and is a reportable adverse surgical event under Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. Section 144.7065, Subdivision 2 (1)).
Surgery performed on the wrong patient. Again, this is per se negligence (surgery malpractice) and is a reportable adverse surgical event under Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. Section 144.7065, Subdivision 2 (2)).
Wrong surgical procedure performed on that patient. This can result in serious injury, but this is worth pursuing even if there is no permanent damage—a patient should be compensated for enduring unnecessary surgery. Again, this is per se negligence (surgery malpractice) and is a reportable adverse surgical event under Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. Section 144.7065, Subdivision 2 (3)).
Retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or other procedure. A man recently had to have a leg amputated after a sponge was left in his leg after surgery. Again, this is per se negligence (surgery malpractice) and is a reportable adverse surgical event under Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. Section 144.7065, Subdivision 2 (4)).
Burn with medical equipment. Recently, a newborn baby was severely burned under warming lights. The FDA has also recently warned dentists that certain dental equipment can burn patients.

There are cases where proving surery malpractice is difficult. If you have any questions about your surgery malpractice case, please contact us for a free case evaluation. Our offices are located in Minnesota, but we represent people throughout the United States.

Our Minnesota medical malpractice lawyers have gained a national reputation and have been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lawyers USA and other publications. To contact a surgery malpractice lawyer at the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, email attorney Fred Pritzker, or submit the firm’s free case evaluation form.

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Medical Malpractice Topics

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