Over 4,000 preventable surgical mistakes happen every year. Many of these common surgical errors are referred to as “never events” by researchers because they are the kind of careless mistakes that should never occur. These errors endanger the health of patients and their effects may last a lifetime. When a surgeon fails to meet the expected standard of care, a patient may have the legal right to seek compensation with a medical malpractice claim for injuries and damages.
“Never Event” Surgical Errors
Errors like performing the wrong procedure on a patient, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving a foreign object inside a patient’s body after surgery are considered “never events.” Also referred to as WSPEs for “wrong-site, wrong-procedure, wrong-patient errors,” these careless events are completely preventable. Never events result in about $1.3 billion in malpractice payouts annually.
Patients may be subjected to unnecessary surgeries when patient charts are inadvertently swapped. All surgeries carry risks of complications, including strokes or infections. However, these patients may be required to undergo additional surgeries to repair damage caused by unnecessary surgery. Meanwhile, they still need to be treated for their original medical issue that prompted the need for surgery to begin with.
In a case where a limb needs to be amputated or an organ like a kidney needs to be removed, removing the wrong body part could be tragic. Unfortunately, this happens at least 20 times a week, according to researchers.
Foreign objects like towels, surgical sponges, clamps, or other surgical instruments are left inside patients’ bodies almost 40 times a week. When this happens, it can take weeks, months, or sometimes years before the patient develops symptoms or infections that lead to the detection of these lost items. Affected patients are then subjected to additional surgeries and may suffer permanent injuries or death because of these surgical errors.
Other Common Surgical Errors
Common surgical errors, in addition to “never events”, happen every day. These include:
- Organ or tissue damage. During surgery, the surgeon may damage internal organs near the surgical site with accidental punctures or perforations from his or her scalpel or other surgical instruments. Injuries like these can lead to serious consequences like infections, including sepsis that might not immediately be evident and require the need for additional surgeries.
- Brain or nerve damage. When anesthesia mistakes are made or nerves are accidentally clipped, patients could suffer permanent brain or nerve damage. This could result in lifelong paralysis, loss of function in a limb, persistent numbness, tingling or pain, or cognitive impairment.
- Infection from cross-contamination. When surgical instruments are improperly sterilized or become cross-contaminated, patients are at risk for infection. For patients with already compromised immune systems, these infections could be fatal.
Surgical errors can leave lasting physical, emotional, and financial impacts. Dealing with medical errors doesn’t have to be done alone—an experienced attorney can guide you through the process and fight for the compensation you need to recover and move forward.
