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Notably egregious errors made against surgical patients

by | Sep 16, 2016 | Uncategorized

A patient in Illinois who goes to receive treatment from a medical professional might have it in the back of his or her mind that a mistake is possible and that can turn into a fatal mistake. The statistics are such that these types of errors are thankfully rare. Unfortunately, thought, they do happen and a patient can be damaged severely or die as a result of it.

Certain mistakes are more egregious than others and these provide examples of the damaging errors that a negligent surgeon or other medical professional can make. Some mistakes are especially stunning. These include patients who receive the wrong blood type while getting a transplant, surgeons taking the wrong organ from a patient, a medical instrument being left inside a patient and a patient waking up while the surgery is taking place.

For example, one patient was getting a transplant of the heart and lungs, but the organs that had been donated were not the right blood type for the patient. The organs were rejected. This same patient received another transplant two weeks after that, but had suffered significant and irreversible brain damage and died. Another patient who was supposed to have his left testicle removed instead had the right one removed.

A third patient who had an instrument left in his body was having a tumor removed from the abdomen. After the surgery, it was found that a 13-inch metal retractor was left behind. Finally, a patient who was still awake during the surgery was undergoing a procedure to determine where abdominal pain was coming from. The proper amount of anesthesia was not administered and the patient felt the incisions. This patient had emotional issues and committed suicide later that year.

These are just some examples of the mistakes can be made. Many are not as bad as these. Some are even worse. When there is a medical error, the patient and his or her family has to be aware of how to pursue compensation for the incident with help from a legal professional experienced in a claim for a surgical error.

Source: beckerasc.com, “4 shocking medical errors,” Mary Rechtoris, Sept. 7, 2016

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