Medical Malpractice – Wrong Site Surgery
Many people think surgery on the wrong body part is something that occurs in movies or stuff urban legends are made of. In today’s high tech world it seems inconceivable that wrong site surgeries still occur! Unfortunately, these situations do happen in real life – an average of 40 or more times per week across the US!
Many will claim that these numbers are inflated, but instances of wrong site surgeries must be reported. The issue is these numbers are not readily available for public consumption. Regardless, wrong site surgeries can, and do yield tragic consequences.
Carelessness, Miscommunications and Negligence lead to Wrong Site Surgeries
It is difficult to understand how such a terrible mistake can occur on the operating table. How can an individual with years of medical training, surrounded by a team of other similarly intelligent people make such an egregious error? Patients and their families are devastated. Once the initial shock wears off they are left to deal with a second medical issue since their primary medical issue was never resolved
In medical facilities, preventative measures are in place with repetitive confirmations on who the patient is, what they are there for – and even as far as to physically draw on the area on operation day prior to the procedure. Make no mistake, wrong site surgeries occur due to carelessness, and are never your fault as the patient! As your medical negligence lawyer, my goal is to obtain fair compensation for you and to make sure this never happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable for their actions.
Examples of Wrong Site Surgeries
Many resources claim that the most common types of wrong site surgeries are in orthopedic or ocular (eye) procedures. This could be a simple case of ‘switched sides’ in which a patient is scheduled for a procedure on the left and mistakenly has the operation completed on their right side. Other examples include mix-ups that are completely unrelated, or in severe occurrences, wrong amputations or surgeries completed on the completely wrong patient leading to lifelong impact or even death.
Repercussions can include a long, expensive road to recovery. Not only have I seen clients that have to recover and rehabilitate from having an erroneous procedure – but they also face complications resulting from not having the proper procedure done in the first place.
I will fight to get you or your loved one fair compensation and hold the doctors, nurses and medical facility accountable.
As your Ohio medical negligence lawyer, I’ll be there for you, and I’ll Make Them Pay!®