A spinal injury is often a life-altering event. Most people know spinal injuries are a common outcome after a car crash or a bad fall. However, you might not realize that many people suffer spinal injuries while under medical care.
When a medical error causes a spinal injury, you need a spinal cord injury lawyer with medical malpractice experience to help you fight for the injury compensation your family needs.
The Most Common Medical Errors That Cause Spinal Injuries
It might come as a surprise to hear that many different types of medical errors can lead to a spinal injury. It’s also important to understand that healthcare providers don’t always come forward and take responsibility for their mistakes.
If a doctor’s actions led you to experience a spinal injury, they will usually be more interested in protecting their career than helping you recover injury compensation.
If you’ve experienced a spinal injury during or after receiving medical treatment, you should be aware of the most common medical errors that can lead to this type of injury.
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors bring a high risk of spinal injury. Anytime a surgeon operates on the back, torso, neck, or abdomen, they run the risk of damaging either the nerves or the spinal cord. Some of the many factors that can lead to spinal injury during surgery include:
- Miscommunication
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Fatigue
- Inexperience
- Failing to respond promptly to an operating error
Surgeons typically perform surgery with a team assisting them. An inexperienced assistant can easily sever or damage a nerve, causing a severe spinal injury. Even experienced surgeons make mistakes, especially when they’re performing back-to-back surgeries or haven’t gotten enough sleep.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors might be the leading cause of spinal injuries that occur under medical care. Anesthesiologists must undergo extensive training because of the risks associated with the use of anesthesia.
When spinal anesthesia is administered, a needle is inserted between the lumbar vertebrae. When administered incorrectly, there’s a high chance of the patient experiencing nerve damage that can lead to paralysis and other spinal injuries.
Emergency Room Errors
Unlike scheduled surgery, emergency room treatment is usually performed under high-stress and short-notice conditions. When you’re treated for injuries in an ER, there’s a higher chance of medical errors.
Two of the most common ways emergency room errors can result in spinal injury include failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis.
If ER staff fail to identify a spinal injury and discharge you, your health can quickly deteriorate, and the ER can be held responsible for subsequent complications.
Misdiagnosis Errors
Misdiagnosis errors occur when you seek medical treatment and your healthcare provider misdiagnoses your injury. Another variant of misdiagnosis error is a failure to diagnose error. In this case, a doctor might simply tell you there’s no injury.
When a doctor misdiagnoses or fails to diagnose an injury, they can be held responsible for the resulting costs when your health worsens due to a lack of treatment.
For example, a spinal injury lawyer can build the case that, given your symptoms, the doctor should have ordered additional testing. In other cases, a doctor might perform appropriate imaging but fail to read the test results correctly.
Informed Consent Errors
Doctors can’t perform medical procedures on patients without first receiving informed consent. That means the doctor is legally required to inform you of potential risks associated with a procedure, such as the risk of spinal damage.
If a medical procedure resulted in spinal damage and you weren’t informed beforehand that this type of injury was a potential risk, you can hold the doctor responsible for your injury costs.
Consult a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Today
Spinal injuries can be incredibly costly to treat. They also commonly result in permanent paralysis, leading to the need for lifelong attendant care and leaving the injured person unable to work.
When a medical error causes a spinal injury, it’s important to protect your long-term finances by consulting a spinal cord injury lawyer right away.
If you’ve experienced a spinal cord injury due to medical care in the greater Los Angeles area, The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq. may be able to help.
Dr. Bradley Kramer is both a spinal cord injury lawyer and a medical doctor. He leverages his professional knowledge of the medical field to deliver impressive results for clients harmed by medical malpractice.
Call The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq. to schedule your free consultation with an experienced California spinal cord injury lawyer today.