Anesthesia Malpractice

Anesthesia errors occur frequently during surgeries, but most are recognized and corrected during the surgery, such that patients rarely, if ever, learn about them. It is only after a patient dies, or if some serious problem is identified following surgery, that a patient or family may learn about some problem with the anesthesia. Since most anesthesiologists never meet the patient or family before the surgery-- and if they do, it is usually just prior to the start of surgery--there is little opportunity for a patient or family to check the credentials or background of the most important person for any surgery. Patients will often seek multiple opinions from surgeons, especially for elective surgery--or at least undertake detailed discussions with the surgeon about the risks and benefits of even non-elective surgery--but they rarely consider the role or obligation of the anesthesiologist both during surgery and in the immediate post-operative recovery room. Many patients will successfully survive surgery only to develop serious problems in the post-anesthesia recovery room where the surgeon usually defers to the anesthesiologist for all evaluation and management decisions.

Additionally, anesthesia malpractice is commonly linked to gastric bypass surgery. To watch a brief video regarding the potential complications of bypass surgery featuring Dr. Fagel, please click here.