Surgical error lawyers see some of the most catastrophic injuries, frequently leading to death.

These can be the most devastating and lethal mistakes a health care provider makes.

It seems like hospitals, and outpatient surgical centers, do their best to move patients through surgery and recovery as quickly as possible. This allows them to see more patients and increase revenue. One product of this practice is an increase in surgical errors–some minor, some critical, and some fatal. Surgical errors are some of the most common types of medical malpractice cases. Some examples of surgical errors include:

• Delaying surgery
• Performing surgery on the wrong part of the body
• Performing unnecessary surgeries
• Inattentive staff or doctors
• Negligent use of surgical tools
• Misreading or ignoring laboratory and imaging studies
• Failing to follow up after surgery
• Prematurely discharging a patient
• Disregarding or not taking appropriate patient history
• Leaving surgical instruments, sponges, or towels in the patient
• Failing to recognize a surgical error
• Damaging other parts of the body not being operated on, and
• Careless decisions under pressure.

Surgery is not the time to cut corners, lose focus, or make avoidable errors. Surgery requires appropriate planning, including obtaining a complete medical history, reviewing all the available information, obtaining additional information if necessary, and considering the alternatives. Successful outcomes also require clear and complete communication between the doctors, nurses, and other members of the surgical team.

Sometimes the surgical error is not obvious. That is why you need an experienced medical malpractice attorney to carefully analyze the medical records, consult with medical experts, and aggressively dig for the truth. Health care providers should be held accountable when they violate establish standards of care and injure innocent patients.