It is only natural that we give doctors a great deal of respect. After all, it takes years of study and dedication to earn a license to practice medicine. Further, we have to trust doctors in order for them to give us the care we need and so we want to believe that they are all skilled practitioners. Most doctors do provide patients with quality care.
However, doctors are not infallible, and they can make mistakes just like anyone else. Unfortunately, if a doctor makes a mistake while performing a surgical procedure, the results could be catastrophic.
One of the most dangerous errors a doctor can make is wrong-site surgery. As its name implies, wrong-site surgery occurs when a doctor operates on the wrong area of a patient’s body. This sort of mishap can happen for a number of reasons.
For example, prior to being taken into surgery, the patient will have a mark placed on the part of the body that is to be operated on. If the wrong area is marked and no one catches the mistake, then it is likely the doctor will operate on that erroneously marked area, rather than where the patient needs treatment.
There are things that can be done to decrease the likelihood of such an error taking place. For instance, it has been recommended that the surgeons themselves make the markings and that the markings be placed as close as possible to the area of the incision.
A wrong-site surgery could be extremely harmful to a patient. It could cause damage to the area that was operated on, and it delays the patient getting treatment to the area that needs attention. Thus, the patient’s overall medical condition could be severely worsened.
If you or a loved one should suffer harm due to a surgical error, you may wish to contact a medical malpractice attorney, The attorney could assess the damage done and help you pursue appropriate compensation.