Surgical Error Lawyer in Maryland

Surgery is a complex medical procedure that requires a team of qualified and skilled surgeons and health care providers to ensure the patient’s safety. Even a minor surgical error may result in a patient suffering pain, discomfort or death.

If you or someone you love has suffered because of a surgical error, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Do not hesitate to contact The Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl to schedule a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your claim. Our trusted medical malpractice attorneys in Maryland have helped numerous victims of medical negligence recover the compensation and justice they deserve.

We understand the difficulties patients face after being injured by a negligent health care provider and will relentlessly pursue your claim to hold him or her liable for providing substandard medical treatment. All of our services are provided on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not charge any upfront fees or costs. You only have to pay us if we recover compensation for your claim

Call 410-244-7005 to find out if you have a case.

What is a Surgical Error?

A surgical error occurs when a surgeon makes a significant mistake that harms or kills his or her patient. Although surgeries are difficult medical procedures that can pose significant risk to the patient, there are certain circumstance where an adverse outcome is considered medical negligence.

Similar to other health care providers, surgeons have an obligation to exercise a degree of care and skill to ensure patients are not harmed while under their care. When a surgeon fails to uphold the medical community’s accepted level of care, he or she can be held liable for any damage suffered by the patient.

Often, surgical errors occur as a result of:

• Insufficient preoperative planning: Surgeons should be well-prepared for surgery by reviewing the procedure and be ready for any complications that could occur during the procedure. This includes reviewing a patient’s medical records and ensuring the necessary tools and equipment are ready.
• Failing to follow a surgical plan: Surgeons often have an established surgical plan they follow to reduce the risk of harming a patient. When a surgeon deviates from this plan, it significantly increases the patient’s risk of injury or death.
• Lack of communication: It is imperative that surgeons openly communicate with their patients and other health care providers. Failing to communicate important information, such as the surgery site, the patient’s medication doses, equipment failure and adverse reactions, before and during the surgery can have devastating consequences.
• Negligence: Health care providers are required to demonstrate the highest level of attention and care when treating a patient. Because surgeries are complex procedures, surgeons can be held liable for committing a mistake that injures or harms a patient.
• Fatigue or impairment: Surgeons must be physically able to perform surgery. This means they cannot operate on a patient if they are impaired by drugs or alcohol or suffer from sleep deprivation.
• Inexperience or incompetence: Surgeons must have the skills and training needed to perform an operation. If a surgeon is undertrained or incompetent, he or she can be held liable for any damage the patient suffers.

If you believe you or a loved one is a victim of surgery malpractice, do not hesitate to contact our surgical error lawyers in Maryland to discuss your claim. We will provide you with a free, no obligation consultation to review the circumstances behind your botched surgery to determine if you are entitled to file a surgical error lawsuit.

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Can I File a Surgical Error Lawsuit?

It can be difficult to understand when a surgeon is liable for medical negligence. Often, this requires the help if a skilled Maryland surgical error lawyer to help you understand when a surgical error has occurred

To determine if a surgeon is at fault for a patient’s injury or death, your attorney will review whether your claim has the four elements of medical malpractice needed to prove negligence:

A Doctor-Patient Relationship Existed

The first element your attorney will examine is whether a professional relationship existed between you and the surgeon prior to the surgery.

If the doctor agreed to perform your surgery, a doctor-patient relationship likely exists. This legally establishes a duty of care the surgeon is obligated to provide to you.

You Were Provided Substandard Care

Next, your attorney will need to determine if your health care provider failed to follow the accepted standards of the medical community when performing your surgery.

This will require proof that the surgeon did not perform to the level of care that other surgeons with similar training and experience would have under the same circumstances.

Your Injury was Directly Caused the Surgeon’s Negligence

Once it is determined that the surgeon treated you with substandard care, we will determine if his or her action, or inaction, directly resulted in your injury or worsened condition.

However, this requires proof that your injury was directly caused by the surgeon’s failure to provide reasonable care. Additionally, it must be clear that you do not suffer from a pre-existing injury that may have contributed to or caused your injury or worsened condition.

You Suffered Damages

The final element that must be present in your claim for you to file a surgical error lawsuit is that you suffered damages as a result of the surgeon’s negligence. This means you experienced financial loss through additional doctors’ visits, corrective surgeries, lost wages, loss of earning capacity or other losses.

If you believe you were injured or suffered a worsened condition because of a surgeon’s negligence, do not hesitate to contact a skilled attorney to find out if you have a case. An attorney will thoroughly review your claim to determine whether you are entitled to compensation by filing a surgical error lawsuit.

Call 410-244-7005 to find out if you have a case.

How Long Do I Have to File a Surgical Error Lawsuit in Maryland ?

If you believe you have a surgical error lawsuit in Maryland , it is imperative that you act quickly to file your case.

Maryland’s statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is five years from the time the injury was committed, or three years from the date the injury was discovered, whichever is shorter, according to Md. Code Ann. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-109(a).

Tolling the Statute of Limitations

Under certain circumstances, the statute of limitations can be “tolled,” or suspended, until a later date when it will resume.

This includes medical malpractice cases involving a minor child under the age of 11 years old at the time the injury was committed. The statute of limitations will commence when the victim turns 11 years old.

Likewise, the statute of limitations may not immediately begin in a claim for an injury to the victim’s reproductive system or cause by a foreign object left in the victim’s body. Furthermore, if the patient was under the age of 16 when either of these injuries occurred, the statute of limitations shall commence on the date when the patient turns 16 years old.

It is imperative that you understand which statute of limitations applies to your case. If you wait too long to file a claim and miss the appropriate deadline, you will lose the right to pursue compensation from the at-fault party.

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Signs and Symptoms of Surgical Errors

Although surgeons are entrusted to care for patients’ safety and well-being, there is always a possibility that an error may occur during surgery. Some signs and symptoms indicating a surgical error may have occurred include:

As qualified surgical error lawyers in Maryland, we understand the difficulties and pain and suffering that result from a surgical error. If you believe you or someone you love have been injured during surgery, you should immediately seek medical attention. Then, contact a skilled surgical error lawyer in Maryland to determine if you are entitled to file a surgical error lawsuit.

Common Types of Surgical Errors

Surgical errors are referred to as “never events,” because they are agreed upon by the medical community as mistakes that should never occur.

However, an estimated 4,000 “never events” occur in U.S. hospitals each year, according to a 2012 patient safety study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Additionally, the study’s researchers found that more than 80,000 “never events” occurred in U.S. hospitals between 1990 and 2010. The study’s researchers found that among these mistakes, the most common include:

• Leaving a foreign object in the patient’s body: Foreign objects, such as a sponge or tool, are left inside a patient after surgery an average of 39 times each week.
• Wrong patient surgery: Surgeon perform the wrong procedure on patients 20 times each week. This can be caused by various factors, such as miscommunication and poor hospital protocol.
• Wrong site surgery: Surgeons operate on the wrong body site 20 times each week, including removing the wrong organ or amputating the wrong limb.

Additionally, our surgical error attorneys in Maryland are qualified to help patients pursue claims for several types of surgical errors, including:

Often, it can be difficult to determine if an adverse outcome after a surgery counts as medical malpractice. Typically, if an injury could have been avoided if reasonable care and attention had been exercised, you may have a case for a surgical error lawsuit.

Our trusted Maryland surgical error attorneys have the skills and experience you need to bring a strong case against a negligent health care provider. We will work tirelessly on your behalf to help you obtain the justice and compensation you deserve.

Complete a Free Case Evaluation form.

Contact Our Surgical Error Lawyers Today

For decades, The Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl’s dedicated attorneys have defended the rights of patients injured by medical negligence.

Our experience helping victims of medical malpractice has provided us the skills and knowledge needed to build a case that supports your surgical error claim. Do not hesitate to schedule a free, no obligation consultation to find out how our attorneys can help you.

We work only a contingency fee basis, which means we never charge clients upfront for our work. You will not have any fees or costs unless we recover compensation for your claim.

Call 410-244-7005 to discuss filing a surgical error lawsuit in Maryland.