Surgical Error Lawyer
Surgical errors including wrong-site surgery and retained surgical objects are serious forms of malpractice that can result in permanent injury or death.
Surgical Errors and Medical Malpractice
Surgical errors occur when surgeons or surgical teams fail to meet the standard of care during operative procedures. Common surgical errors include wrong-site surgery, retained surgical objects, anesthesia errors, and operative complications from negligent technique.
Surgical errors can result in serious injury, infections, need for additional surgeries, and in some cases, death.
Types of Surgical Errors
Surgical errors include: operating on the wrong site, operating on the wrong patient, leaving sponges or instruments inside the patient, nicking or damaging nearby organs, excessive bleeding, infections, and poor surgical technique.
These errors are often preventable through proper surgical protocols, time-outs, and attention to detail.
Wrong-Site Surgery
Wrong-site surgery is never the result of bad luck—it results from failure to properly mark surgical sites and conduct time-out procedures. Operating on the wrong location or limb constitutes clear surgical malpractice.
Wrong-site surgery results in unnecessary injury and typically requires additional corrective surgery.
Retained Surgical Objects
Retained surgical objects (sponges, instruments, clamps) are left inside patients during surgery. These preventable errors occur from inadequate counting procedures or failure to account for all instruments and sponges.
Retained objects can cause infections, inflammation, pain, and need for additional surgery to remove the object.
Who May Qualify for a Claim
Patients who suffered injury from surgical errors may have viable claims. Surgical errors involving wrong-site surgery or retained objects are often considered negligence per se (automatically negligent).
To evaluate your case, we need operative reports, imaging studies showing the error, medical records documenting injury, and expert surgical review.
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.