Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists have a grave responsibility.  When anesthesiologists are negligent and commit malpractice, the consequences are usually serious.  They play an important role in making sure that a patient is medically stable and fit for non-emergency surgery and stable throughout emergency surgery.  They must monitor and help regulate heart and respiratory function during any surgery under general anesthesia. In fact, anesthesiologists control a patient’s breathing when general anesthesia with an endotracheal tube is used.  Placement of the tube itself can cause major injury or death, such as when the tube in placed in the esophagus instead of the trachea resulting in a fatal lack of oxygen to the lungs.  The most serious cases of anesthesia medical malpractice by anesthesiologists utilizing general anesthesia lead to injuries that include aspiration pneumonia, hypoxic brain damage, coma or death.

Spinal and epidural anesthesia can also cause injury due to medical negligence.  These injuries can be cardiovascular or neurologic, take other forms (e.g., patient may suffer bacterial meningitis, which must then be urgently diagnosed and treated), or even – in a rare case - result in death.

If you or a loved one has been injured by anesthesia error and you would like to speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney, please contact us to speak to one of the medical malpractice attorneys at Hannon & Boyers, for a free consultation about your legal rights.