Anesthesia Liability in Medical Malpractice

Anesthesia liability occurs when an anesthesiologist commits a negligent error either before or during a surgical procedure. When you are scheduled to undergo surgery, it is often the surgeon’s competence that will weigh heavily on your mind. But if the anesthesiologist’s performance is off in even the slightest way, you may suffer serious injury as a result. Anesthesia liability in medical malpractice means that a hospital and/or anesthesiologist will be held liable for the gross misconduct or medical negligence which occurred during your treatment. In order to seek compensation through an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit, you should work with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer who can gather the medical evidence necessary to validate and support your medical malpractice claim. Your anesthesia liability lawsuit must adhere to the standards set by the state in which the operation was performed. Each state governs over medical malpractice issues and provides a legal system through which you can seek monetary compensation for your personal injury.

Common Causes of Anesthesia Liability Cases

The anesthesiologist is responsible for determining the proper form(s) of anesthesia for your surgery, and for determining and maintaining the proper dosage of anesthesia based on your specific needs. Your anesthesia liability case may have been caused by improper use of the 3 main types of anesthesia used in surgical procedures:

• General anesthetic;
• Regional anesthetic; and
• Local anesthetic. 

The most common anesthesia liability lawsuit arises from overdose or under-dose of one or more of these anesthetics during your procedure. In an overdose case of anesthesia liability, your anesthesiologist may have set the amount too high at the outset, failed to monitor your vital signs for warnings of the error, and/or may have used an improperly labeled bottle (such as a higher concentration than indicated). A prevalent phenomenon of under-dosing in anesthesia liability cases is “anesthesia awareness.”  In anesthesia awareness, an insufficient amount of anesthesia causes the patient to wake up during the surgery. Other forms of anesthesia liability in medical malpractice errors include:

• Intubation errors;
• Lack of oxygen supply;
• Failure to monitor vital signs;
• Failure to assess patient for complications;
• Prolonged sedation; and
• Defective equipment.