What are common anesthesia errors?
The most serious are anesthesia awareness (the patient is conscious but paralyzed during surgery), dosing errors (overdose or underdose), failure to monitor vital signs, intubation failures, and oxygen-deprivation events causing hypoxic brain injury. Failure to review a patient's history or allergies is also a frequent cause.
Who is liable for an anesthesia mistake?
In the US, liability can fall on the anesthesiologist, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), the surgeon, or the hospital under respondeat superior. In Canada, the anesthesiologist is defended by the CMPA, and hospital staff by the institution. Often more than one party is named.
How serious is anesthesia awareness?
Anesthesia awareness — regaining consciousness during surgery while unable to move or speak — can cause severe, lasting psychological trauma including PTSD. Even without physical injury, courts have recognized substantial non-economic damages for the terror and lasting mental harm.
What is the value of a hypoxic brain injury claim?
Oxygen-deprivation brain injuries are among the highest-value malpractice claims because they often require lifelong attendant care, rehabilitation, and result in total loss of earning capacity. The life-care plan, not pain and suffering, drives the value, and can reach the millions.