Surgery comes in so many forms. When most people think of surgery, they think of the emergency surgery that they see on TV, but most forms of surgery are non-emergent. In fact, many of them are outpatient procedures, meaning that you get the surgery and go home the same day.

But what happens if there is a mistake during surgery and it leads to you becoming much worse off than you were? What if you were healthy, but surgery changed that?

When you need a Norristown surgical center malpractice attorney, contact The Weitz Firm, LLC today. We will work with you to figure out what happened so you can get the compensation you deserve.

The Statistics

Did you know that more than 4,000 preventable mistakes occur in surgery each year? This costs more than $1.3 billion in malpractice payouts.

Have you heard the term “never events?” These are things that happen that should never happen during surgery? They can include a surgical patient losing the wrong limb or having the wrong part operated on. It can also mean sponges or other surgical tools being left inside a patient’s body during a surgery. There are some things that should never happen in a hospital setting, but they do.

Often though, surgical mistakes are more subtle than a “never event” but just as costly.

Researchers and doctors agree that reporting of surgical errors is lower, as we usually only hear about the big events. We are much less likely to hear about a surgeon perforating someone’s bowel during surgery, leading the patient to nearly dying from sepsis.

The consequences of these surgical errors are:

  • Temporary injury – 59 percent
  • Permanent injury – 33 percent
  • Death – 6.6 percent

To put it bluntly, surgical errors almost always cause a patient harm.

They Should Not Happen

Surgical centers should operate a high level of care and control every aspect of the operating room. From the tools used to the fluids and medications going into a patient’s body, everything should be accounted for. All staff should follow redundancy protocols to ensure they are performing the correct procedure on the correct patient.

A failure to do all of this can lead to devastating consequences.

Remember, surgeries can range from emergent heart and brain procedures to routine biopsies and eye procedures. Any time an invasive procedure is done on a person, there are risks.

It is up to the medical professionals to minimize those risks.

What Are Your Options?

Most of the time, there is no need to fear surgery. The doctors and nurses who are in the room with you are well-trained.

Unfortunately, sometimes they make mistakes. There is no worse place for a healthcare professional to slip in their duties than while a patient is being operated on. It can have deadly consequences.

If you need a surgical center malpractice attorney in Norristown, you can count on The Weitz Firm, LLC to be by your side. You can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling 267-587-6240.

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