Key Takeaways
- Patients accept certain known surgical risks, but no patient should have to assume the risk of a preventable error by the surgical team.
- A physician must explain an operation’s risks, benefits, drawbacks, and alternatives beforehand, and failing to obtain informed consent is malpractice in itself.
- No surgical center liability waiver protects a facility from liability for a preventable mistake, oversight, or miscommunication in the operating room.
- Preventable surgical errors include wrong-site or wrong-patient surgery, nerve damage, objects left in the body, anesthesia mistakes, and infections from contaminated tools.
- A surgical error claim in Gresham may lead to compensation for economic and noneconomic damages from a negligent surgeon or health care center.
The decision to undergo surgery can be frightening enough without the risk of a professional committing a surgical error. Unfortunately, medical mistakes happen in the U.S. every day. If you believe your recent surgery-related injury, health complication or the death of a loved one came from a preventable error, please contact the Gresham medical negligence lawyers at Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC for a free consultation. We can investigate the incident for signs of malpractice and let you know if we believe you have a case. If so, we may be able to help you argue for fair compensation.
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Why Hire Our Law Firm?
- We are a boutique-style firm that provides personalized client care and attention, yet we have the power and resources of a much larger firm.
- We have a high success rate in and out of the courtroom. Our past results showcase our ability to obtain maximum compensation for our clients.
- We can take powerful defendants, including hospitals and surgeons in Oregon, to trial if we believe it is necessary for fair compensation.
- We accept Gresham surgical error claims using a contingency fee payment arrangement. You will not pay unless we succeed.
“At Paulson Coletti, ‘liberty and justice for all’ is more than just a phrase – it is our mandate. Our team of trial lawyers is driven to pursue justice for the injured, ensuring that the responsible parties are held accountable. Whether your case settles or goes to trial, you can trust our Oregon personal injury lawyers to be the legal advocates you need so your voice can be heard.”
Surgical Errors and Medical Malpractice
Surgeries come with some assumed risks. A patient who agrees to undergo a surgery accepts certain known risks related to the procedure, such as the risk of unpreventable complications or an adverse outcome. It is a physician’s duty to explain the potential risks, benefits, drawbacks and alternatives to an operation before performing the procedure. The medical industry calls this obtaining the patient’s informed consent. Failure to obtain informed consent is an act of medical malpractice in itself.
No patient should assume the risks of a preventable error on the surgical team’s part. No surgical center liability waiver protects the establishment from liability in the event of a preventable mistake, oversight or miscommunication in the operating room. If a medical professional or health care center makes an error that jeopardizes the surgery or causes the patient harm, the individual and/or health care facility may be legally responsible for that patient’s damages. The patient may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim in these situations.
Examples of Preventable Surgical Errors
Every year, thousands of surgical errors threaten the lives of patients throughout the U.S. While the law does not expect every surgery to go as planned, it does impose a duty of care on surgeons to meet the accepted standards of care within the medical industry. A surgeon or someone else in the operating room could be guilty of an action or omission that breaches these standards of care, causing the patient on the operating table harm. The person or facility may then be liable for the injured patient’s related damages. Many medical errors could compromise a surgery.
- Miscommunication in the operating room
- Wrong type of surgery
- Wrong-site surgery
- Wrong-patient surgery
- Artery or vein nicks
- Nerve damage
- Forgetting objects inside the body cavity
- Anesthesia mistakes (too much or too little)
- Infections from contaminated tools
- Defective medical device incidents
- Wrongful patient death
If you believe a hospital, surgical center, emergency room or health care practitioner had the ability to reasonably prevent your injury or a loved one’s death but negligently failed to do so, contact Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC for a free consultation. A medical malpractice claim may end in compensation for your economic and noneconomic damages. The health care center or surgeon may be liable for negligently causing the injury in question.
“Most cases settle, but each of our cases is prepared as if it’s going to trial. The insurance companies know it and so do the defense lawyers defending them. That’s why we get such great results for our clients.”
Request a Free Surgical Error Legal Consultation in Gresham
It is important to hire an attorney as the victim of an alleged surgical error in Gresham, Oregon. These are complex claims that involve many civil laws and complicated medical matters. Hiring a lawyer can give you an edge during insurance settlement negotiations or a medical malpractice trial. Find out if you have a surgical error case today. Request a free consultation online or call (503) 226-6361 to speak to our attorneys.