Boston Anesthesia Negligence Lawyers
Anesthesia Error Attorneys Serving Boston & New England
Our Boston anesthesia negligence lawyers understand that patients under anesthesia are completely dependent on the anesthesia team. The drugs used must be carefully selected and properly administered, and the patient’s vital signs must be continuously monitored for any sign of trouble. Even a slight error in dosage, monitoring, or administration can result in unexpected stroke, brain damage, disability, or death. The medical mistake lawyers at Crowe & Harris, LLP are trained to identify abnormalities that can result in harm during anesthesia and to locate and review documentation of anesthesia care that may not appear in the standard patient record.
One of the greatest advances in modern medicine is the development of general anesthesia. Without it, patients couldn’t safely undergo extensive, prolonged, and life-saving procedures such as organ transplants or open-heart surgery. Along with its benefits, however, anesthesia carries real risks. When providers fail to meet the anesthesiologist standard of care, patients can suffer catastrophic and irreversible harm. If you or a loved one has suffered injury or loss from the improper use of anesthesia, you may have a claim for compensation.
Our anesthesia error attorneys represent individuals and families in Boston and throughout New England, including New Hampshire and Rhode Island. If you or someone you love has suffered an injury or death while under anesthesia, an experienced anesthesia error lawyer can help you understand your options and pursue compensation for your losses.
Contact Crowe & Harris, LLP at (617) 404-3417 for a free consultation with an anesthesia error attorney about your case.
Why Choose Crowe & Harris, LLP?
At Crowe & Harris, LLP, we devote a full team to every anesthesia error case: attorneys, full-time nurses, paralegals, and support staff work together on your file from investigation through resolution. Our full-time nursing staff reviews clinical records alongside our attorneys, which strengthens the evidentiary foundation and helps us identify documentation issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. Senior partners are personally involved in every case, not just at intake, so you know the names and faces of everyone working on your behalf.
Our senior partners bring 75 or more years of combined legal experience to each case. Founding partner Philip J. Crowe has been licensed since 1969 and is a member of the American Association for Justice and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. Partner Michael J. Harris has been licensed since 2001 in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and was named a 2006 Rising Star by Boston Magazine as one of the Top Young Lawyers in Massachusetts. Our firm has been serving clients throughout Boston and New England since 1999. If you need an anesthesia error lawyer in Boston, we offer free consultations so you can learn about your options without any upfront commitment.
Consequences of Anesthesia Negligence
A patient under anesthesia can't self-report symptoms or signal distress, making continuous monitoring by the anesthesia provider the primary safeguard against harm. When anesthesia negligence occurs, the consequences can be devastating. Some of the most serious injuries associated with anesthesia errors include:
- Lack of oxygen and anoxic brain injury
- Allergic reactions
- Malignant hyperthermia
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Paralysis
- Brain injury
- Death
Our attorneys have experience representing injured individuals and families who have lost loved ones when anesthesiologists or hospitals failed to meet the standard of care. If anesthesia negligence has changed your life, you don't have to face the legal process alone.
Types of Anesthesia Error Cases We Handle
When surgery or an invasive procedure is necessary, some form of anesthesia is usually involved. Anesthesiologists are responsible for choosing the appropriate type and dose of anesthesia, monitoring the patient during the procedure, and managing the emergence period as the anesthesia wears off. The type and amount of anesthesia used depend on the procedure and the patient's medical history and condition.
Common types of anesthesia include:
- General anesthesia: Administered through inhalation or intravenously, general anesthesia renders the patient fully unconscious.
- Regional anesthesia: Numbs a specific region of the body. Examples include an epidural, a caudal block, spinal anesthesia, and nerve blocks.
- Local anesthesia: Injected into the skin to numb only the surgical site.
While many patients undergo anesthesia without complications, errors in dosage, monitoring, or response to changes in a patient's condition can lead to cardiac arrest, respiratory suppression, allergic reaction, seizures, brain damage, or death. We handle a wide range of anesthesia error cases, including claims involving:
- Anesthetic overdose: Administering anesthesia at an excessive and dangerous level, which can cause permanent damage or death.
- Insufficient anesthesia: Failing to provide enough anesthesia for the duration of the procedure, which may leave a patient conscious and in pain during surgery and at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder afterward.
- Poor patient monitoring: During surgery, a patient's heart rate, respiratory function, and blood pressure should be closely watched. Failing to respond to pulse oximeter alarms or to monitor vital signs continuously can have fatal consequences.
- Intubation errors: Improper placement or removal of a breathing tube can cause nerve damage, oxygen deprivation, tracheal perforation, or dental damage.
- Failure to screen adequately: Neglecting to review a patient's medical history and allergy status before surgery is a recognized category of anesthesia negligence.
- Emergence monitoring failures: Failing to monitor a patient during emergence, the period when anesthesia wears off after surgery, is a separate and recognized error category.
If you've been harmed by an anesthesia error, an anesthesia error attorney near you can help you seek compensation and hold negligent providers accountable.
Frequently Asked Questions
The attorneys at Crowe & Harris, LLP have many years of experience handling anesthesia negligence and anesthesia error cases. If you or a loved one is a victim of anesthesia negligence and you're unsure where to start, the questions below address concerns we often hear from clients in similar situations.
What Is Anesthesia?
Anesthesia is the use of medication to block pain in the body. Controlling pain is often essential to allow a patient to tolerate surgery or other invasive procedures. Before the introduction of effective anesthesia, patients sometimes died of shock from intense pain during prolonged or intensive surgery. Thanks to developments in modern medicine and improved patient monitoring during surgery, anesthesia is safer than ever. When serious problems occur from the administration of anesthesia today, they're often related to negligence rather than unavoidable risk. Proving anesthesia negligence can still be difficult, however, so enlisting the help of an experienced anesthesia error attorney is an important step in protecting your interests.
There are three main types of anesthesia used today. General anesthesia renders the patient fully unconscious. Regional anesthesia numbs a section of the body, such as an epidural given during childbirth. Local anesthesia is applied to only a small area of the body, such as when a patient is getting minor stitches.
What Are Some Examples of Anesthesia Negligence?
You may have an injury claim if an anesthesiologist or anesthesia provider:
- Administers too little or too much anesthesia
- Disregards the alarm on a pulse oximeter, the device used to measure a patient's blood oxygen level
- Fails to adequately monitor a patient during surgery for signs of complications from the anesthesia
- Incorrectly intubates a patient or places a breathing tube in the wrong position
- Fails to properly monitor a patient during emergence, the period during which the anesthesia wears off after surgery
Any of these issues and others may constitute negligence on the part of an anesthesiologist or hospital. Under Massachusetts law, anesthesia error claims are generally subject to a 3-year statute of limitations from the date the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered, with an absolute 7-year statute of repose. Because these deadlines are strict, speaking with an anesthesia error lawyer as soon as possible can help protect your ability to bring a claim.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Ask For?
Financial compensation for your losses can be an important part of your recovery. Determining how much to seek is a complex decision that an experienced attorney can help you make. You may need to account not only for past medical costs, but also for future medical care, rehabilitation, and any reparative procedures needed to correct an error. You may also be entitled to claim lost wages, lost future earning capacity, and noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231, Section 60H, noneconomic damages are generally capped at $500,000, though exceptions apply in cases involving a substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, substantial disfigurement, or other special circumstances where the cap would deprive the plaintiff of just compensation.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
In medical malpractice claims, liability may rest with the individual provider, the hospital, or both. In anesthesia malpractice cases, the primary provider is typically the anesthesiologist, but nurse anesthetists and other members of the anesthesia team may also be involved. If the anesthesiologist is a hospital employee, the hospital may be liable. Even when the anesthesiologist is an independent contractor, the hospital may be responsible as the contracting party. Hospitals may also be liable in situations involving equipment failures or unsafe policies that contribute to the error.
Do I Need an Attorney?
Proving negligence in any medical malpractice case can be difficult, and anesthesia error cases are among the most technically complex. The general health of the patient and the nature of the procedure both affect how anesthesia works, which may lead an anesthesiologist or hospital to argue that the patient shares responsibility. Because the patient is usually unconscious when the error occurs and the relevant documentation is controlled by the medical providers, carefully analyzing the records is critical. Understanding what transpired in the operating room often requires both legal skill and medical knowledge.
At Crowe & Harris, LLP, we have a dedicated team of attorneys and full-time nurses who work together to investigate and litigate anesthesia negligence claims. If you or a loved one is a victim of anesthesia negligence, you're likely still dealing with the physical and emotional effects. Instead of adding to that burden by trying to represent yourself, an experienced attorney can advocate for you so you can focus on your health.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of anesthesia negligence, we can help you understand what went wrong and what to do next. Contact a Boston anesthesia negligence attorney at Crowe & Harris, LLP by calling (617) 404-3417 today for a free consultation with a member of our medical-legal team.
