Home Medical Malpractice Surgical Error

Denver Surgical Error Attorneys


Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyers Who Get Justice for Victims of Surgical Errors

There is no excuse for surgical errors. Negligence during surgery cause severe injuries, including chronic pain, paralysis, and organ failure. These errors can even be fatal. Surgeons and their staff are required to uphold the standard of care. When avoidable mistakes are made, the negligent medical provider and hospital can be held legally and financially responsible.

If you or a loved one have been the victim of a surgical error, do not accept an apology for your pain and suffering. Instead, contact Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. Our experienced surgical malpractice attorneys will review your case and advise you on the best way to move forward.

The Denver medical malpractice attorneys at Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. have been recognized for providing our clients with outstanding service by Super Lawyers, a rating agency that evaluates attorneys based on peer recognition and professional achievement. Our firm also has an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Call (303) 759-9945 to schedule a no-cost consultation today.

Back to Top

Surgical Errors Caused by Medical Negligence

There are many ways that surgical errors can occur. Safely performing every step in the treatment is vital to the patient’s health, from getting the right test results to positioning the patient correctly to completing the surgical procedure.

Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. litigated a case where the patient suffered permanent nerve damage because the surgeon inadvertently leaned on them for hours during a procedure and cases where surgeons removed a healthy organ because of a lab mix-up. Surgical malpractice is never caused by a patient, and you shouldn’t have to bear the costs of someone else’s mistake.

Our law firm has helped clients who were injured by various types of surgical errors, including:

  • Unsanitary conditions occur when someone on the medical staff fails to perform standard sanitation procedures, such as reusing a one-time instrument. This can result in infections, extended recovery time, loss of an organ, and death.
  • Anesthesia errors: An anesthesiologist is always on hand during surgery to properly adjust the level of anesthesia while remaining mindful of the patient’s vital signs. Providing improper levels of medication can be fatal. It’s also essential for the hospital to verify any patient allergies or medical conditions that may affect anesthetization prior to surgery.
  • Leaving medical equipment inside a patient: Sponges, drains, forceps, scopes, scissors, needles, and surgical masks and gloves have all been left inside patients by medical teams that didn’t take the time to properly conclude an operation. At the very least, this requires an additional procedure to remove the object, and it could result in medical complications.
  • Operating on the wrong patient means that a hospital error resulted in a patient undergoing a surgical procedure that caused medical harm for no good reason.
  • Unnecessary amputation or operating on the wrong body part: These mistakes result from improper planning and inadequate communication. Healthy tissue may be damaged, or a healthy body part may be entirely removed. As a result, the patient will have to undergo another surgery to carry out the correct procedure.
  • Surgical fires: Static electricity, electrical surgical devices, or lasers may spark a fire that feeds on oxygen, alcohol, linens, or other flammable material in the operating room, frequently causing devastating results.
  • Improper monitoring of the patient’s vital signs may cause unnecessary complications that could be life-threatening or damage the patient’s long-term health and recovery.

Back to Top

Human Error and Surgical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or some other healthcare professional performs a negligent action that harms a patient. To establish negligence in a medical malpractice claim, a malpractice attorney must prove that the standard of care was violated. This means the healthcare professional did something that a reasonable physician would not have done. To prevail in a malpractice case, your attorney will demonstrate that the violation of the standard of care caused your injuries.

Medical professionals are obligated to maintain the standard of care before, during, and after surgery. Unprofessional behavior, a lapse in judgment, and unresolved deficiencies in the treatment process have devastating consequences. No one should be forced to suffer because the hospital where they received treatment is poorly managed.

Surgical errors that result in medical malpractice may be caused by:

  • Drug or alcohol use
  • Failure to communicate by the operating team
  • Poor administrative oversight
  • Prescription medicine errors
  • Incompetence
  • Inadequate hospital policies
  • Insufficient staffing
  • Miscommunication
  • Negligent hiring
  • Failure to provide a surgical checklist
  • Poor planning
  • Inadequate staff training
  • Failure to follow hospital rules
  • Clerical errors
  • Personality conflicts
  • Failure to use software correctly

Back to Top

Injuries Caused by Surgical Malpractice

Patients who are harmed by the careless actions of doctors and other hospital personnel suffer tragic consequences, including constant pain and severe disabilities. Victims of medical malpractice will require extensive medical treatment and in-home nursing care. These injuries may prevent the patient from resuming their career, and patients may not be able to perform many of the day-to-day activities that they enjoyed before they were injured.

Life-altering injuries caused by surgical malpractice include:

  • Nerve damage. A careless incision may damage nerves around the surgical site, resulting in chronic pain, muscle weakness, or paralysis.
  • Organ failure may be life-threatening, and additional procedures may be required to repair the harm caused by the original surgical mistake.
  • Sepsis. When unsanitary surgical conditions allow bacteria, fungi, or viruses to enter the patient’s body, it may trigger an extreme reaction that can be life-threatening.
  • Paralysis. Incision errors affecting the brain or spinal column may cause paralysis. If the anesthesiologist fails to provide enough oxygen to the brain during surgery, the patient may suffer hypoxia, which can also cause paralysis.
  • Strokes. Surgical errors that cause excessive bleeding can lead to strokes and other complications.
  • Respiratory failure. Careless puncturing of the lung tissue during surgery can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
  • Burns. Misuse of lasers and overheated surgical equipment causes damage to the patient’s skin, sweat glands, nerve endings, and other soft tissue.

Back to Top

Who Is Liable for Surgical Errors?

Every member of the surgical team is a highly trained professional who is fully responsible for their own actions. But administrators also have a considerable amount of influence over what happens in a hospital. Supervisors are responsible for making staffing decisions, determining budgetary priorities, and developing procedures that determine how a hospital will function.

Hospitals are ultimately responsible for hiring and evaluating employees, overseeing programs, and providing safeguards to prevent mistakes from happening. Anyone who commits a negligent action that contributes to your injuries may be liable for medical malpractice, including:

Back to Top

How To File a Medical Malpractice Claim

Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. will investigate your case by reviewing your medical records and interviewing everyone involved in the surgical process. We will also fight to obtain internal hospital communications, surgical notes, and other relevant documents. Then, we will file claims against the negligent parties.

Our attorneys will negotiate to get you compensation that covers the true cost of your injuries. If the other side refuses to make a reasonable settlement offer, Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. is always prepared to file and take them to court. In Colorado, there are filing deadlines, certification standards, and other requirements that must be met when bringing a medical malpractice case to trial, so it’s important to find a medical malpractice attorney who will make sure everything is done correctly.

Our firm has won substantial verdicts in medical malpractice cases. A medical malpractice claim or lawsuit will include the following types of damages:

  • Treatment costs
  • Medical devices
  • Pain and suffering
  • Medications
  • Loss of income
  • Reduced quality of life
  • Rehabilitation
  • Medical bills
  • Loss of consortium
  • Occupational therapy
  • In-home nursing care
  • Wheelchair ramps for your home
  • Wrongful death

Back to Top

Helping People in Denver for Over 40 Years

Medical professionals often try to obfuscate the facts of the case by hiding behind medical jargon. That won’t work on us. At Leventhal Puga Braley P.C., we’ve handled hundreds of surgical error cases. We’ve won record-breaking verdicts for clients across the country, including the largest and second-largest medical malpractice verdicts in the state of Colorado.

If you believe you have been injured by a surgical error, call our top-rated trial attorneys at Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. Our clients and their families come first. We will remain in touch with you throughout the legal process, and we’re always happy to speak with our clients.

Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. has the experience and resources to go up against any hospital or insurance company in the nation. If we take your case, you won’t owe us anything unless we win.

Give us a call at (303) 759-9945 to learn more today.

Back to Top

Additional Information

Great Trial Lawyers Obtaining Unparalleled Results
303-759-9945
877-433-3906