Medical malpractice is an unfortunate occurrence that affects some New Jersey patients. One of the ways it occurs is when a doctor or someone on their surgical team makes a mistake. These are some of the most common forms of surgical errors.
Medication errors
A common type of medical malpractice during surgery preparation is when a doctor administers the wrong medication or the wrong dose of the right one. This often occurs when a doctor fails to review the patient’s chart to determine an appropriate drug or dosage. If the patient has allergies or is given the wrong dose of a specific drug, it can lead to complications.
Surgery on the wrong patient
Sometimes, there’s a mixup among patients that results in the wrong one receiving a certain type of surgery. This error can have devastating consequences for the person who erroneously gets the surgery; it can also harm the patient who should have had the procedure if time is an issue.
Wrong-site surgery
Wrong-site surgery happens when a doctor performs surgery on the wrong side of a patient’s body. The patient can suffer serious harm and require another surgery to address the original problem. Negligence is the biggest reason for this medical mistake; it’s more likely to occur if the doctor and surgical team fail to thoroughly review the patient’s chart.
Foreign object left in the body
Another common surgical error is when the patient receives the surgery they need, but a foreign object is left inside their body. This mistake can cause complications such as infection; the patient also needs further surgery to have the object removed and needs antibiotics to stave off a potential or actual infection.
Surgical errors can leave patients severely harmed. Sadly, many of these mistakes are preventable if doctors and their teams effectively communicate to ensure they know what each patient needs.
