Anaesthesia Malpractice
The Devastation Of Anaesthesia Malpractice
South Africa has a fairly stressed health care system, with a doctor-patient ratio of one to 4,000 instead of the one to 1,500 as recommended by the World Health Organisation. As such, many cases of medical negligence can be either officially or unofficially attributed to human error, as our medical professionals are stressed, overworked or there are simply not enough of them. One of the most devastating results of human error is anaesthesia malpractice - when anaesthesia has been incorrectly administered, often with fatal results.
In the medical profession, anaesthetists are revered as your life – literally – is in their hands while you are on the operating table. An anaesthetist controls a mixture of gases, including pure oxygen and nitrous oxide (commonly known as ‘laughing gas’) and one of a range of inhalational agents. Many anaesthesia malpractice cases involve patients being administered either too little or too much, or the incorrect anaesthetic, often resulting in further medical complications, brain injury, coma or death.
It is also important to note that you should have been properly examined prior to any anaesthetic administration to ensure that you are ‘anaesthesia fit’. Your general state of health should be assessed, including whether or not you’ve been ill – even if with a cold or flu – in the six weeks prior to your operation; as well as whether you are an asthmatic and when last you suffered an attack; whether or not you are a diabetic and if so, whether your blood sugar levels are under control; and whether or not you have heart problems or have recently suffered a heart attack. All of these factors, as well as lifestyle factors such as drinking or smoking – which may exacerbate any existing condition – should also be properly assessed in order to negate any anaesthesia complications whilst in the operating theatre.
If you know or suspect that you have been a victim of anaesthesia malpractice, contact Adele van der Walt Attorneys Inc. Their professional team of medical attorneys will assist you by investigating your case before taking the necessary steps for a formal complaint.
For more information on this subject, please give us a call at 012 460 3668 (SA) or e-mail us at clare@avdw.co.za
