Taking On Negligent Medical Professionals Across California
Most surgical procedures and other invasive medical operations would not be possible without the use of anesthesia to eliminate pain from a patient. Local and general anesthetics are very powerful, though, and must be prudently administered. When anesthesiologists and other professionals fall short in the safety of anesthesia administration, the results can be disastrous. Anesthesia errors can result in brain damage, coma, and in the worst cases, death. If you or someone you love has been injured due to an anesthesia error, or if you have lost a loved one, you have the right to seek and recover appropriate damages. These damages could include compensation for additional medical procedures and expenses, income you have lost, as well as pain and suffering.
The law firm of Teal & Montgomery has offices in Sacramento and Santa Rosa. Our lawyers have helped clients across Northern California who have been injured by the negligence of a medical professional.
About Anesthesia
Before anesthesia was invented in the mid-1800s, doctors had to perform complex and painful surgeries while using nothing to lessen the patient’s pain besides opium or alcohol. These offered some numbness, but didn’t always block the pain completely, or remove the memory of it. Thankfully, anesthesia has come a long way since then, and there are two main types of anesthesia drugs:
- General Anesthesia – This completely renders a patient unconscious and leaves him or her with zero awareness or memory of the surgery having taken place. It also reduces the physiological responses to surgical cuts, and regulates blood pressure, stress hormone release and heart rate for the duration of the surgery or procedure.
- Local Anesthesia – This blocks the nerves that connect a specific body part or region to the brain, preventing the nerves from sending pain signals to the brain. Some are Novocain shots, used by dentists, and epidurals, which enable women to give birth relatively pain free by blocking the nerves beginning at the base of the spinal cord, which lead to the pelvic region.
Where It All Goes Wrong
There are all kinds of things that can go wrong with the administration of anesthesia, including:
- Administering too much or too little anesthesia
- Administering anesthesia to a person who is allergic to a certain anesthetic
- Failing to monitor a patient who is under anesthesia
- Causing paralysis
- Allowing a patient to undergo surgery when he or she still has sensation
Sacramento Lawyers Who Focus on Medical Malpractice and Anesthesia Errors
Medical malpractice cases can be extraordinarily complicated. In order to give yourself the best possibility of obtaining a favorable result, it is important to consult with and retain a knowledgeable, experienced attorney. At Teal & Montgomery, our lawyers have handled malpractice claims for decades in the Greater Sacramento Area. We are proud of our record of results over this time. Further, one of our attorneys, Thomas Q. Winter, is also a physician. As a result, we have a depth of exclusive medical knowledge that most law firms simply do not offer. If we accept your claim, you can take comfort knowing that we will do everything we can within the law to help you make a complete financial recovery.
Contact the Anesthesia Errors Attorneys of Teal & Montgomery
E-mail or call our Sacramento office at 916-448-1010 to schedule your free initial consultation. Our law firm handles all malpractice claims on a contingency basis. You will not pay attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for your injuries.