Bullock Legal Group > Medical Malpractice > Surgical Errors

Did you suffer harm due to a surgical error? A surgical error is one of the most devastating complications a patient can suffer, particularly because patients place their complete trust in surgical teams while under anesthesia. You may have the right to pursue compensation and justice if your healthcare provider’s negligence or wrongdoing has harmed you. The surgical error attorneys from Bullock Legal Group can help with your case.

Since our founding, we’ve dedicated our practice to providing comprehensive, reliable legal representation to clients injured by healthcare professionals’ malpractice. When you hire us for your legal matter, you can expect our female-led team to provide experienced, powerful advocacy. We offer compassionate client service that includes honest, straightforward advice to empower you to stand up for your rights and future.

If you’ve suffered injuries or complications due to a surgical error, turn to the attorneys of Bullock Legal Group for help pursuing financial relief and justice from the healthcare professionals responsible for the error. Contact us for a free initial consultation with our experienced, compassionate surgical error attorneys.

Why Choose Bullock Legal Group for Your Surgical Error Claims?

If you suffered harm or complications due to errors by your surgical team, you need experienced legal counsel to protect your rights and interests. But how do you choose the right lawyer for your case? Surgical error victims have turned to the attorneys of Bullock Legal Group for help with their cases due to our dedication to providing effective, assertive representation. Choose us for your case because of our:

  • Legal experience – Our attorneys have 40 years of combined legal experience advocating for clients in some of the most complex injury cases.
  • Track record of success – Our legal team has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for injured clients, including in some of the largest litigations in the country. Our lawyers have received recognition from numerous legal organizations and publications.
  • Technology-driven approach – We leverage cutting-edge legal practice software to modernize our services and provide intelligent, innovative representation and legal solutions for our clients.

Surgical Error Cases We Handle

Surgical errors refer to a wide range of careless mistakes that surgical teams can make before, during, and after surgery that can injure or cause complications. At Bullock Legal Group, our surgical error attorneys can help if you’ve experienced injuries or medical complications due to surgical errors such as:

  • Wrong patient/wrong site/wrong procedure – Also called a “never” event, wrong patient/site/procedure errors occur when a surgical team performs a surgical procedure on the wrong patient or operates on the correct patient but performs the wrong procedure or on the wrong site on the patient’s body.
  • Anesthesia errors – Anesthesia errors include administering too much anesthesia (which can cause complications or patient distress), too little anesthesia (which can cause a patient to wake up or regain feeling during the surgery), or contraindicated anesthesia (such as when a patient has an allergy to a type of anesthesia).
  • Failure to monitor – Anesthesia teams must continue monitoring a patient’s vital signs during surgery to advise the surgical team of any complications.
  • Mistaken incisions – Surgeons may injure patients by erroneously making incisions into organs or tissues not involved in the surgery.
  • Foreign objects left inside the body – Patients can experience pain or complications like infections due to equipment or surgical materials left inside their bodies.
  • Infection of surgical sites – Failure to maintain a sterile operating environment or to keep surgical wounds clean can lead to patients suffering post-operative infections.
  • Failure to respond to complications during surgery – Surgical teams must respond promptly to complications or signs of distress in a patient, including having equipment on hand to respond to complications or bringing in other surgical specialists to assist when necessary.
  • Inadequate post-operative care – Negligent post-operative care may lead to patients suffering complications that have delayed treatment.
  • Failure to provide post-operative instructions – Patients may also experience post-operative complications when surgeons and nurses fail to provide proper care instructions for patients to follow.
  • Lack of post-operative follow-up – Surgical teams must follow up with patients post-surgery to confirm that they don’t have any symptoms that may indicate post-operative complications or surgery failure.

Surgical Error Statistics

Researchers have found that about 4,000 surgical errors occur in the United States annually, although more errors likely go unnoticed by patients. A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that “never” events occur approximately once out of every 112,000 hospital surgical procedures. Of these errors, wrong side errors account for nearly 60 percent, correct side/wrong site errors account for about one-quarter, wrong procedure errors for 14 percent, and wrong patient errors for about five percent.

Frequently Asked Questions About Surgical Errors

People who have suffered harm due to surgical error have many questions about their legal rights to recover compensation for their losses. Common questions we get from clients include:

You may have a surgical error claim if you’ve suffered physical injury or medical complications during or after surgery. A surgical error claim requires a plaintiff to prove that their surgical team provided treatment that failed to comply with the applicable standard of care. Although the specifics of the standard of care differ for each patient, medical professionals generally define it as the treatment decisions and actions that healthcare professionals of similar training and experience would perform in the same circumstances. In other words, a surgical team may not be liable for a surgical error if they acted the same way other healthcare professionals would in identical circumstances. However, if other surgeons would not have acted as your doctor did, you may have a viable surgical error claim.

You may have the right to seek compensation for financial and personal losses due to injuries or complications caused by a surgical error. A successful surgical error claim could compensate you for the following:

  • Costs of medical treatment or rehabilitation for injuries or complications, including additional surgeries, medications, hospitalization, or physical/occupational therapy
  • Long-term care expenses for disabilities caused by injuries or complications, including home health services, caregivers, medical/mobility equipment, or installations of disability accommodations
  • Lost wages/income due to additional missed time from work while you recover
  • Lost future earning capacity caused by disabilities that prevent you from returning to your job or doing other kinds of work
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment or quality of life because of disabilities or visible scarring and disfigurement
  • Reduced life expectancy caused by injuries or health complications

Every state has a statute of limitations that imposes a deadline for filing surgical error claims. Talk to the attorneys of Bullock Ward Mason, LLC as soon as possible after you learn that you’ve suffered a surgical error to determine how long you have to file your surgical error lawsuit. If you file a lawsuit after the deadline, you may lose your right to recover compensation in civil court. Our firm can help you file your claims on time.

A surgical error may occur due to a surgeon’s negligence or a mistake by another member of the surgical team, such as the anesthesiologist, surgical nurses, nurses on the anesthesia team, or nurses or physician’s assistants on the post-operative team. You might also pursue claims against the healthcare facility where your surgery took place or the medical practice employing the members of your surgical team, but whether they can be held liable will depend on the specifics of your case. You should speak to an experienced surgical errors lawyer to determine who you can hold liable for the error.

Hiring a lawyer for your surgical error claim can significantly improve your chances of recovering compensation in your case. Surgical error claims usually involve complex evidence and legal issues, including expert witness testimony regarding the applicable standard of care and how the surgical team’s conduct met or failed to comply with the standard of care. An attorney can investigate your claim to recover all available evidence, including medical records, provider notes, staffing records, surveillance footage, and eyewitness testimony. Your attorney can negotiate with hospital representatives, insurance adjusters, and defense attorneys on your behalf to pursue compensation for you in a settlement. And if your case ends up in court or goes to trial, an experienced litigation attorney can diligently advocate for your interests.

Contact Bullock Legal Group Today About Your Surgical Error Case

A surgical error can have debilitating consequences that significantly impact a patient’s quality of life. If you suffered a surgical error, you deserve to pursue compensation for your financial and personal losses resulting from the error, such as medical bills, lost wages, and emotional distress. Call Bullock Legal Group today at (833) 8-LEGAL-8 for a free no-obligation consultation to learn how our dedicated surgical error attorneys could help you seek financial relief and justice from the healthcare providers that harmed you. You do not have to face this challenging time alone.

Bullock Legal Group has attorneys in:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Mississippi
  • Illinois
  • Texas
  • New Mexico
  • Washington