A Nerve Was Damaged During Surgery, What Are My Legal Options?
Sometimes a patient awakens from surgery and feels an unexpected comfortableness in a specific area of the body. This may be the result of surgically caused nerve damage. Nerve damage can feel like numbness or tingling and can be accompanied by a ‘pins and needles’ feeling and severe burning pain. If this has happened to you, it’s important to know your legal rights. You may be the victim of medical malpractice and you may be eligible for substantial compensation.
Two Common Ways Medical Malpractice Can Result In Nerve Damage
- The surgeon has cut or badly stretches a nerve in the operative field without properly ensuring its protection. This is often referred to as a “surgical misadventure”
- A surgeon or an anesthesiologist has placed a nerve under prolonged pressure and cut off its blood supply for an improper amount of time leading to damage. This is often referred to as a “positioning error”
Proving Medical Malpractice and Collecting For Your Nerve Damage
A few basic elements must be proven in a surgical nerve damage malpractice case to collect a reward. First, a doctor patient relationship must be established. This is typically an easy hurdle to clear as this relationship almost always unquestionably exists. Next, negligence of the doctor during (or immediately before/after) the surgery must be established. A surgeon or anesthesiologist is negligent when they fail to provide the quality of care that other competent surgeons and anesthesiologists would have reasonably provided in similar circumstances. To prevail in a case of surgically caused nerve damage medical malpractice a patient must prove the proper medical standard of care and prove how the doctor deviated from that standard of care. Finally the patient must prove the harm caused by the negligence. The harm can take various forms including; pain and suffering, cost of medical bills, lost wages and loss of ability to enjoy lifestyle pleasures as one would before the negligent nerve damage.
Contact an Attorney in Sacramento Experienced With Surgery Caused Nerve Damage
When people sustain nerve damage during surgery caused by the negligence or carelessness of medical professionals, they are often entitled to significant compensation. Contact the attorneys of the Teal Law Group have been representing the legal rights of injured victims since 1975 and are respected as one of California’s leading medical malpractice law firms. To discuss your case with one of our Sacramento medical malpractice lawyers, call our office today at 916-448-1010