Wrong-Site Surgery Lawyer
Wrong-site surgery is a catastrophic error where surgeons operate on the wrong body part or patient. These are clear-cut cases of negligence with obvious patient harm.
Wrong-Site Surgery as Medical Malpractice
Wrong-site surgery occurs when a surgeon operates on the wrong body part, wrong side of the body, or wrong patient. These errors represent a catastrophic failure of basic surgical safety protocols and constitute clear evidence of medical negligence.
Wrong-site surgeries have included operating on the wrong knee, wrong hip, wrong hand, wrong eye, and operating on the wrong patient entirely. These are considered "never events"—errors that should never occur.
Failure of Safety Protocols
Modern surgical protocols include mandatory site verification including pre-operative marking, "time out" verification immediately before incision, and confirmation of patient identity. Failure to follow these established safety protocols is per se negligence.
Wrong-site surgeries typically result from breakdowns in communication, failure to implement safety checklists, or failure to verify site marking before beginning surgery.
Patient Harm and Consequences
Wrong-site surgery causes obvious and serious harm: the patient doesn't receive needed surgery, while suffering surgical trauma to the wrong site. Patients require additional surgery to address the intended condition and may need remedial surgery for the wrong-site damage.
Patients suffer multiple anesthesia exposures, prolonged disability, and increased infection risk from multiple surgical procedures.
Liability and Damages
Wrong-site surgery establishes liability as a matter of law—no detailed analysis of standard of care is necessary because the error is inherently negligent. Damages include compensation for all medical care required to address both the intended condition and the wrong-site injury, plus pain and suffering.
These cases often settle significantly because the liability is clear and indefensible.
Who May Qualify for a Claim
Any patient who underwent surgery on the wrong site has a clear claim for medical malpractice. These claims are among the most straightforward to establish and pursue.
To evaluate your case, we need operative reports, anesthesia records, imaging confirming the wrong site was operated on, and documentation of all subsequent medical care required.
The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page or submitting a contact form.