Surgical Errors

All surgeries carry risks. Surgical errors can occur in eye or Lasik surgeries, laparoscopic surgeries, childbirth-related operations, abdominal tract surgeries, colonoscopies, endoscopies, plastic surgery, and cardiac surgery. Not all bad outcomes of a surgery mean that there was medical malpractice. However, if you believe that an adverse outcome was a result of a surgical error, you should consult an experienced Rockland County surgical error lawyer. Valerie J. Crown is a compassionate medical and dental malpractice attorney who offers personalized attention to each of her clients. She is sensitive to the details of their circumstances and can craft a plan that is tailored to meet their needs.

Surgical errors can be caused by many different types of negligent actions or omissions. They can be results of improper planning for the surgery, mistakes during the surgery, nerve damage, improperly administered anesthesia, post-operative errors, incorrect incisions, and failures to prevent infections. Certain surgical errors are obvious, such as leaving instruments, needles, or sponges inside the patient during surgery. Similarly, operating on the wrong site or allowing a patient to fall off the surgical table is an obvious error.

In the Greater New York region, doctors and staff involved in surgery are supposed to follow safety protocols as well as the practices and procedures that the medical community in New York considers to be appropriate. Doctors are also supposed to inform patients about any risks associated with a surgical procedure. Most surgeries do carry risks. There may be adverse reactions to anesthesia, blood clots, heart attacks, or complications while healing, but patients assume those risks when they are told about them beforehand. A failure to outline the risks appropriately can give rise to a lack of informed consent action. A surgical error that is actionable is not an assumed risk but an event that departs from accepted medical practices and standards. A surgical error attorney can help Rockland County residents investigate their procedure to determine the type of error that occurred.

In New York, you can recover damages for a surgical error that you can prove was medical malpractice. A surgical error is medical malpractice when a health care provider or surgeon's actions fall below the professional standard of care, and the deviation results in a serious injury like organ damage, scarring, disfigurement, paralysis, heart attack, nerve damage, or a wrongful death.

To recover compensation, you must prove that you were under a health care provider's care, and in the course of performing surgery, the health care provider failed to act in accordance with the accepted standards and practices of New York surgeons and their staff. Also, your Rockland County surgical error attorney must show that because of this deviation, you were injured or made sick, or your condition otherwise worsened. For example, suppose that you are set to have a colonoscopy, but the doctor fails to remove one of the polyps, and you get colon cancer as a result. In that case, assuming that the professional standard of care is to remove all of the polyps during the colonoscopy, you may be able to establish that there was a surgical error that counts as medical malpractice.

In most cases, your attorney will need to retain an expert to testify as to the standard of care, explain how the surgeon or nurse fell below the standard of care, and discuss how the deviation caused the injuries. However, there are certain incidents of malpractice following which an expert may not be necessary. For example, if you are supposed to have your third finger amputated due to an infection, but the surgeon incorrectly amputates your fourth finger, this is an event that a jury should be able to understand as an actionable error without the testimony of an expert.

If you are harmed due to a surgical error in Greater New York, Attorney Valerie J. Crown may be able to help you recover damages. These may include compensation for additional medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. We provide a level of personalized attention that you may not receive from a large firm. Call our office at 845.708.5900 or call Valerie’s cell phone at 845.598.8253 at any time of day or night. We also represent people who need a misdiagnosis lawyer or assistance with other types of medical malpractice claims in Rockland, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange Counties and New York City.