How is Failing to Properly Administer Anesthesia in New York a Form of Medical Malpractice?

Administering anesthesia is necessary for many medical procedures today and especially for operations. As with other medical fields, anesthesiology is highly technical and requires the skills of a trained anesthesiologist (doctor) or anesthetist (nurse) to avoid injuries. Serious damages can result from anesthesia errors, including brain damage, coma or death. When severe injury occurs, you should consult with experienced medical malpractice lawyers to determine whether negligence was a factor. At Rich & Rich, our attorneys handle many different types of medical malpractice cases. We know how to recognize anestheisa errors and can build strong cases against liable parties through the New York legal system.

Once medical liability is established, you can file a complaint against a doctor and also pursue a lawsuit to recover compensation.

Common serious anesthesia injuries

Negligent anesthesia care can result in the following medical injuries:

  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Vision loss
  • Loss of bodily function

Types of anesthesia errors

Anesthesia care begins prior to an operation or procedure. The anesthesiologist must prepare for anesthesia administration by first gathering vital information about the patient — finding out about allergies, current drug medications being used or recently used, medical history and symptoms the patient is experiencing. Administration of a general anesthesia requires accurate patient assessment for the patient's ability to tolerate anesthesia. Failing to notice that the patient is allergic to certain medications or will have a low tolerance for anesthesia can lead to serious life-threatening errors.

The anesthesiologist must be familiar with the scheduled operation along with any potential complications and be in excellent communication with the nurse, surgeon and patient. Failure to gauge the length of the operation and prepare for blood loss, blood pressure drops or other factors can end up harming a patient. A failure to use padding and position patients properly can result in pressure injuries, neurological injuries and paralysis.

Confusion about intravenous (IV) lines has sometimes resulted in anesthesiologists administering anesthesia into the wrong IV, which can cause oxygen deprivation and other complications.

During the entire operation, the anesthesiologist must carefully monitor the patient's heart rate, oxygen levels and anesthesia levels along with any blood loss and urine output. Failing to adjust the anesthesia based on physiological changes is a preventable error. When using tourniquets, wrong placement on limbs can lead to nerve damage, so anesthesiologists must ensure proper use.

We understand that you may be unsure whether an anesthesia error resulted in your serious injury or the coma or death of your loved one. However, when you highly suspect that it did, you should consult immediately with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.

Don’t wait. Contact Rich & Rich, P.C. today

We are conveniently located in Manhattan at 1430 Broadway, Suite 1802, New York, NY  10018