Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors may have serious consequences. In some tragic cases, this carelessness can lead to brain damage, paralysis, a persistent vegetative state, or even death. If you or your loved one was harmed by an anesthesia error, the Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen can advise and represent you. We understand the nuances of this complex area of the law and can craft arguments on your behalf that are supported by the law and medicine . Our attorneys have assisted injured patients and their families throughout Maryland and in Washington, D.C.
Pursuing Compensation after an Anesthesia ErrorMany surgical procedures require the use of general anesthesia to render the patient unconscious or semi-conscious so that he or she does not feel any pain. While the use of anesthesia is generally safe, medical errors may occur. Common types of mistakes include dosage errors, delayed anesthesia deliveries, failures to intubate or injuries caused during the intubation process, failures to monitor a patient correctly, failures to recognize complications, and improper uses of equipment during surgery.
If an anesthesia error should have been prevented, the anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, or any other medical professional who was responsible may be liable for the patient’s resulting harm. Medical malpractice takes place when a health care professional’s conduct causes harm to a patient due to deviation from the accepted standards of care within his or her profession. These highly trained individuals owe their patients a duty to act in a manner consistent with how other health care providers in the same specialty would act under the same circumstances. If a health care provider’s failure to meet the accepted level of care was a cause of your injury or your loved one’s loss, you likely will be able to receive damages.
An injured patient may be able to seek both economic and non-economic damages for his or her harm. Economic damages include compensation for objectively verifiable monetary losses, such as past, present and future medical bills, the cost of attendant care that includes nursing services, prescription drug costs, and lost income that has resulted from the injuries sustained. There is no cap in the State of Maryland on economic damages. Non-economic damages include intangible costs such as compensation for the injury itself, pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, loss of consortium and other non-monetary losses.
If you have lost a loved one due to an anesthesia error, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim on behalf of your family member. Maryland has very specific rules that govern who can file a wrongful death claim, but those who can file include surviving spouses, surviving children even if not minors, and surviving parents. These claims are intended to compensate family members for the losses suffered in connection with their loved one’s unexpected death, such as lost companionship, consortium, support, and guidance.
Also available in Maryland in the event of a death is the filing of a survival claim that applies to the conscious pain and suffering of the decedent.
Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney in the Baltimore AreaAt Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, our diligent Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers are committed to holding negligent health care professionals accountable for the harm that they cause. Our injury attorneys can represent people in Washington, D.C. and many Maryland communities, such as Baltimore City, Towson, Owings Mills, Annapolis, Rockville, Germantown, Bethesda, Glen Burnie, Upper Marlboro, College Park, Hyattsville, Bowie, Laurel and Columbia, and other areas of Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard and Baltimore Counties. To set up a free consultation, you can call us at (800) 654-1949 or at (410) 654-3600, or you can contact us online. We will not ask you to pay anything unless we can recover compensation for you. Our legal fee is earned only if we make a recovery, and we pay all expenses of the case and only get reimbursed for those expenses at the time of a monetary recovery.