Charlotte Surgical Error Lawyer

Surgical Error Attorney in Charlotte, NC

How You Can Recover From A Surgical Error

Most surgical errors result from problems in today’s complex health care system. Doctors are rushed by insurance companies and government requirements, often causing them to make mistakes that impact their patients’ health. If a surgical error led to you sustaining harm, a Charlotte surgical error lawyer can help you hold negligent healthcare workers accountable.

Not all surgical injuries are the result of malpractice — on occasion, even when doctors take all the right steps and perform the appropriate techniques, infections sometimes occur, for example. A Charlotte medical malpractice lawyer from DAS Law Group, PA, can help you determine whether you have a valid claim.

Facing the rush and the emotions involved with illness, patients are less likely to understand the potential consequences of an operation – and they are less likely to notice potential surgical errors until something goes seriously wrong. They need the help of experienced Charlotte surgical error lawyers to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for surgical malpractice.

Types Of Surgical Errors Handled By Our North Carolina Law Firm

At the medical malpractice law firm of DAS Law Group, our North Carolina personal injury attorneys use years of professional experience to help injured patients take action against surgical errors, from orthopedic surgery errors to neurosurgery errors. We have also achieved a record of successful settlements and verdicts in urinary surgery, including ureters obstructed by byproducts of surgery and urinary incontinence caused by surgery, as well as gynecological injuries and damage to bowels.

These and other errors can occur in many ways, including:

• Surgery on the wrong body part
• Failure to use compression stockings
• Accidental severing of arteries
• Misplacement of clips to obstruct arteries or urethras
• Leaving instruments or sponges in the surgical field
• Failure to adequately close the incision
• Failure to adequately remove diseased tissue or tumors
• Anesthesia or medication overdose/error

Proving That Surgical Errors Caused Your Injury

To succeed in a surgical error case, a person must prove to the court that his or her injuries (or the injuries of a loved one) were caused by the surgeon’s deviation from “the standard of care.” Standard of care is a complex legal idea. It is often described as the level of care and skill that a physician or surgeon of the same medical specialty would use under similar circumstances.

How Surgical Errors Happen and What Safety Steps Are Supposed to Prevent Them

Errors can occur at any stage of a surgery, even before it begins. The following are the three main phases of a surgery and common errors that occur in each one:

1. Pre-op. Errors at this stage often include prep omissions, anesthesia failures, and more.
2. Intra-op. Intra-op failures can include issues such as leaving instruments inside the patient’s body or operating on the wrong site.
3. Post-op. Post-op errors can include monitoring failures, severe infections, and more.

Luckily, there are specific procedures in place designed to prevent errors at each of these stages when they are implemented properly. Strategies your surgical team should use to avoid errors include:

• Team Verification. Immediately before making the first incision, the surgeon will consult their full team to verify that the correct procedure is being performed.
• Checklist-Driven Teamwork. Surgeons use documents like the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist to make sure that no crucial steps are missed.
• Technology. Modern technologies can be used to improve patient safety, as is the case with robotically assisted surgeries.

Why Hire a Surgical Error Lawyer in Charlotte?

Nearly one in three surgical patients experiences complications, and at least one in five of them are the result of medical errors. If you’re one of the many North Carolina patients who has suffered adverse effects from a preventable error during surgery, you should hire a surgical error lawyer to help you hold your doctor accountable in Charlotte, NC. Your attorney can help you collect evidence, work with expert witnesses to support your claim, and negotiate with insurance companies.

Working with a skilled medical malpractice lawyer can also help patients meet strict, complex deadlines that come with filing injury claims. In North Carolina, victims generally have three years from the date they were harmed to file a medical malpractice claim. However, certain cases may be given up to four years, and special foreign object regulations may allow a victim up to ten years to file a claim.

Additionally, a medical malpractice claim may be dismissed if the claim does not contain an expert witness who can demonstrate why a healthcare worker acted incorrectly or with negligence. To do so, local courts may give victims a 120-day extension on their claim.

FAQs

Can a Patient File a Claim Against a Doctor for Surgical Errors in Charlotte?

A patient can file a claim against a doctor for surgical errors in Charlotte if those errors were avoidable and would not have been made by another equally trained person who was able to meet the accepted standard of care in the field. If you’re not sure whether you have a claim, you can speak with a Charlotte surgical error lawyer about your concerns.

What Is Considered a Surgical Error?

A surgical error is considered a preventable mistake made during a medical procedure that causes a patient injury. To be considered malpractice, a surgical error must deviate significantly from the accepted standard of care within the field. Common examples include wrong-site or wrong-patient surgeries, foreign object retention, organ perforation, and anesthesia errors.

What Is the Negligence Rule in Charlotte?

The negligence rule in Charlotte is one of pure contributory negligence. It bars the recovery of any amount of compensation in personal injury cases for plaintiffs who are deemed to be at all responsible for their own injuries. It’s relatively rare for the state’s strict pure contributory negligence rules to come up in the context of medical malpractice cases.

How Does the Law Regulate Surgical Mistakes in Charlotte?

The law does not permit surgeons to make negligent mistakes. However, it does acknowledge that not all adverse outcomes are due to malpractice. Surgeons aren’t liable for honest errors in judgment or unavoidable complications. If they adhered to the accepted standard of care, their mistakes would not be considered malpractice.

We Help Victims Of Surgical Malpractice

Contact DAS Law Group, PA, if you are interested in learning more about how a Charlotte surgical error attorney can help your family members receive the compensation they deserve after having to live through a surgical error. Medical injuries impact more than just your body; family relationships, ability to work, and psychological trauma are also involved. We are here to make sure you can move forward.