Anesthesiologist Malpractice

Anesthesiologists are a vital part of the surgery team and they attend to a crucial aspect of a positive and successful surgical experience for the patient. Administering anesthesia during a surgery is a precise science and should be approached with the utmost care. Often, applying anesthesia can be as or more dangerous than actually performing the surgery. Any errors on the part of the anesthesiologist can result in a nightmarish experience for the patient that might even conceivably lead to a tragic and preventable death.

There are three main categories of anesthesia. These are:

• Local anesthetic: only affects a small portion of the body and is usually given in the form of a cream, spray or injection.
• Regional anesthetic: administered to the whole outer part of the body, commonly implemented during childbirth.
• General anesthetic: renders the patient completely unconscious so that he or she will not recall the surgery at all.

Anesthesiologists can commit numerous mistakes while administering anesthesia if they do not exercise an appropriate degree of caution. Possible critical failures might include:

• Neglecting to look into the patient's medical records to find out if there could be any complications in the administration of anesthesia.
• Incorrect intubation.
• Working with damaged or unclean equipment
• Administration of an improper dosage
• Neglecting to monitor the vital signs of a patient.

If an anesthesiologist commits any of these errors, the consequences can be severe. The injuries that may be associated with anesthesiologist malpractice include brain damage, strokes, heart attacks, and death. When an anesthesiologist fails, you could incur more medical bills, lose wages, or require long-term, specialized care.

Contact Us

If you or someone you care about has been the victim of anesthesiologist malpractice, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Call the Chicago personal injury lawyers of Friedman & Bonebrake, P.C., at 312-466-8200 to discuss your case and the potential merits of legal action.