Anesthesia and Malpractice

Anesthesia and Malpractice

Anesthesia refers to the use of medications to control or prevent pain during surgery and diagnostic procedures. Anesthesia is also used for the relief of chronic pain. There are three types of anesthesia: general, spinal, and local. Spinal anesthesia is injected into the epidural space or into the subarachnoid space around the spinal cord. General anesthesia is inhaled or injected into the bloodstream. Local anesthesia is injected into the body at the location of the injured body part.

Improper administration of anesthesia can cause serious bodily injury and death. In recognition of the dangers of anesthesia, only licensed physicians and licensed certified nurse anesthetists can administer anesthesia in the United States. When an injury or death occurs after the administration of anesthesia, many injured patients or their families file lawsuits against the anesthesiologist.

To prevail in an anesthesia malpractice action, the plaintiff must prove the following:

that the anesthetist was negligent in that he or she deviated from standards of ordinary anesthesia care,

that this deviation from standard practices was a direct and foreseeable cause of injury to the patient, and

the type and amount of legal damages resulting from the negligence of the anesthesiologist

The standard of care required of anesthesiologists is that of reasonably competent anesthesiologist. Expert testimony is generally required to testify as to the applicable standard of care as well as whether the anesthesiologist's failure to comply with the standard of care was the cause of the patient's injuries. In order for an expert's testimony to be admissible, the expert witness in an anesthesiology malpractice case must be qualified as an expert. An anesthesiology expert generally must be a licensed anesthesiologist.

Anesthesiology errors that lead to malpractice claims can involve failure to take a proper medical history of the plaintiff prior to administering the anesthesia, providing excess anesthesia, and failure to properly monitor the patient while under anesthesia. Other claims can result from failure to obtain the patient's informed consent prior to administering anesthesia and injuries from the administration process (such as injuries that occur when administering spinal anesthesia). In defending anesthesia lawsuits, defendants often claim that the injury incurred was a known risk of the anesthesia.