Anesthesia Errors
Medical malpractice is an area of law that has to do with physician errors during a medical procedure such as an operation. This includes the job of a doctor administering anesthesia. An anesthesiologist is a licensed doctor who has continued her training in order to become a specialist.
In fact, it takes an anesthesiologist a full 12 years after high school to become board certified. She practices one of the most difficult and highly-paid forms of medicine. Anesthesiology can also be one of the most dangerous fields, since complications of administering anesthesia can lead to paralysis, coma, and death.
One of the most important duties of an anesthesiologist is monitoring the unconscious patient during an operation. An anesthesiologist must look for early warning signs of any changes adversely affecting the patient’s body. If the anesthesiologist is careless in her monitoring, or forgets to do so, this may constitute medical malpractice.
An anesthesiologist must also update the anesthesia record. It is important that all anesthetic events be documented, because this record is the only time-dependent trail of what happened over the course of the operation. If the anesthesiologist does not accurately update this record, and future injury results because another doctor did not have access to accurate information, then the anesthesiologist will be responsible for damages.
An anesthesiologist also needs to be aware of any allergies or negative reactions that the patient experienced with past anesthesia. Anesthesiologists need to keep abreast of new medical discoveries and phenomena. For example, she would need to know the truth about “anesthesia awareness,” where the patient is fully conscious and feels the excruciating pain of the operation, yet is completely paralyzed and cannot move a muscle.
Consult a Lawyer - Present Your Case Now!
Last Modified: 08-18-2008 02:16 PM PDT
