Nobody wants to have surgery, but sometimes it’s necessary. When you need a surgical procedure, you put your full trust in the surgeon and the rest of your team. You’re entirely reliant on them to carefully perform the procedure, protect you from infection, monitor your breathing and other signs while you’re anesthetized, and take care of you as you come out of the anesthesia and begin your recovery.
If you’ve been harmed by a preventable mistake in the operating room, an experienced Utah surgical errors lawyer at AVS Law Group can help you fight for the compensation you deserve. Unfortunately, not every medical provider or facility lives up to that trust. When they don’t, the consequences can be serious — sometimes even fatal. If you’ve been injured by a surgical error due to medical negligence or have lost a loved one to surgical malpractice, you deserve compensation.
Talk to a Surgical Errors Lawyer at Allred Vogt & Stuart (AVS)
Medical malpractice cases, including surgical errors cases, are complicated. If you’ve been a victim of malpractice, it’s important to talk to a surgical errors lawyer in Salt Lake City as soon as possible after the injury occurs.
At AVS, we understand how important it is that you receive full compensation for your injuries. We don’t rush to settle cases to quickly collect our fees and chalk up another settlement. Instead, we thoroughly work each case and take the approach we think best serves your interests. That includes arguing your case to a Salt Lake City jury if that’s the best option for you.
We offer free consultations to make sure you have the information you need to make good decisions about how to move forward with your claim and about whether we are the right surgical errors law firm for you. You can schedule yours right now by calling 801-876-7771 or filling out our contact form.
What is Considered Surgical Malpractice?
Not every bad medical outcome is malpractice. That’s true with surgery, too. Sometimes, complications happen even though the medical professionals did everything right. To establish a malpractice claim, you must show that the doctor, facility or other medical provider failed to live up to the accepted standard of care in the industry.
That said, surgical errors generally don’t occur without negligence on someone’s part.
Common Surgical Errors
Here are some of the most common types of surgical errors that can lead to medical malpractice claims:
- Performing the wrong surgery, or performing surgery on the wrong patient
- Performing surgery on the wrong body part, such as removing the healthy right kidney instead of the compromised left one
- Perforation during surgery that can cause infection or internal bleeding
- Nicking a nerve during surgery
- Anaesthesia errors
- Failure to properly sterilize equipment or maintain a clean environment
- Leaving an object inside the patient’s body
- Failing to detect infection or bleeding post-surgery
- Failing to properly monitor the patient’s breathing and vital signs after surgery
You might want to believe these types of events don’t happen, or are exceptionally rare. While they certainly aren’t the norm, many are more common than any of us would like to believe. According to research cited by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 4,000 surgical ‘never events’ occur each year in the United States. Those are mistakes that should never happen, such as wrong-site surgeries and leaving instruments inside the patient’s body. In an unrelated survey of hundreds of neurosurgeons, half reported that they had operated on the wrong part of the spine at least once in their careers.
As awareness of these issues has increased over the past two decades, many hospitals have instituted protocols to ensure that these types of errors don’t happen. For example, many count surgical sponges at the beginning and end of the procedure to ensure none have been left in the body cavity. Still, these errors happen.
At AVS, Our Utah Surgical Errors Lawyer Will Fight for You
At AVS, we’ll take charge of every aspect of your medical malpractice case, from providing notices to filing claims to assessing your medical records. We’ll hire and work with expert witnesses to establish fault and to prove your damages, and we’ll prepare a well-supported demand and negotiate with the insurance carrier. If the insurance company isn’t prepared to offer a fair settlement, we’ll prepare your case and fight for you at trial.
Damages in a Surgical Errors Case
Every case is different. No Salt Lake City lawyer can promise you a specific settlement or jury verdict. However, an experienced surgical errors lawyer will be able to tell you what types of damages you may be entitled to, how those damages are typically calculated, and how similar cases have been resolved. Some of the most common types of damages in a surgical error case are:
- Additional medical costs due to the injury, such as the cost of corrective procedures after the error and extension of your time in the hospital
- Lost income during the extra treatment and recovery time
- Costs of any other services or equipment you need as a result of the error
- Projected future or ongoing medical costs due to the error
- Projected lost future earning capacity due to expected long-term injury or limitations
- Intangible losses such as pain and suffering and loss of quality of life
How Long Do I Have to File a Surgical Error Case?
The statute of limitations for surgical errors and other types of medical malpractice in Utah is two years. However, determining how long you have to file a specific claim may not be that simple. For example, you may have longer to file a claim if you didn’t find out about the mistake right away–but there’s still a limit.
Specific types of negligence may also have specific rules. For example, the claim is because a foreign object was left inside the patient’s body, the case must be filed within one year of the date the object was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. The same timeline applies if the medical provider concealed the malpractice from the patient.
The statute of limitations may also be shorter if the medical facility is government operated. And, the starting point for the statute of limitations may be different if your loved one died as a result of the surgical error and you are pursuing a wrongful death claim.
As you can see, determining exactly how long you have to file your claim can be complicated. That’s one reason it’s in your best interest to consult a surgical errors lawyer in Salt Lake City as soon as you suspect you’ve been the victim of malpractice.
Your Salt Lake City Legal Team
When you hire a Salt Lake City lawyer at AVS, you can count on personalized service based on your injuries, your concerns, and your priorities. We will thoroughly investigate your case, identify and work with the best experts for your case, and stand our ground in negotiations. Unlike many malpractice firms, we’re not interested in high volume settlements–we’re here to fight for the best possible outcome for each client.
Take steps to protect yourself as soon as possible after your injury. Get reliable information from an experienced professional who is on your side. If a doctor, hospital or their insurance carrier offers you a quick settlement immediately after you discover the error, you should be very cautious. The goal may be to get you to sign away your rights before you fully understand the extent of your injuries or the compensation you’re entitled to.
You can schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced, dedicated malpractice lawyers right now. Click to call at the top of the page or fill out our contact form.
