• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About Us
    • Our Attorneys
    • Our Staff
      • Sheila Chavez
      • Marin Gorman
    • Mission Statement
    • Community Service
    • Charities We Support
    • Secret Settlements – Our Stand
    • Patrick Malone & Associates Offers Scholarship to Law Students for Representing Real People
  • Attorneys
    • Patrick Malone
    • Daniel C. Scialpi
    • Alfred Clarke
    • Heather J. Kelly
    • Aaron M. Levine, Of Counsel
    • Peter R. Masciola, Of Counsel
  • Focus Areas
    • Medical Malpractice
      • Hospital Errors
      • Cancer Misdiagnosis
      • Diabetes
      • Kaiser HMO Malpractice
      • Military Malpractice
      • Hospital Security Misconduct
    • Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Brain Injuries From Medical Care
      • Lead Poisoning
      • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
      • TBI Long-Term Care & Rehabilitation
    • Baby & Child Injuries
      • Birth Injuries
      • Infant/Child Brain Injuries
      • Shaken Baby Syndrome
      • Pediatric Anesthesia Errors
      • Jaundice/Kernicterus
      • Bacterial Meningitis
    • Sex Abuse of Children and Youths
      • Sexual Abuse Claims in Washington D.C.
    • Auto, Truck, and Motorcycle Accidents
      • Car Accidents
        • Maryland Car Accidents
        • Virginia Car Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Train Accidents
    • Defective & Dangerous Products
    • Dangerous Drugs
      • Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
    • Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
    • Consumer Rights
    • Accounting and Legal Malpractice
      • How To Sue Your Lawyer For Malpractice
      • Common Legal Malpractice Claims
      • Damages For Legal Malpractice
      • Missing The Deadline For A Lawsuit
  • Success
    • Verdicts & Settlements
    • What Our Clients Say
    • True Stories
  • Publications
  • Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Steps in the Legal Process
    • The Jury Trial System
    • Legal Deadlines for Filing Your Personal Injury Lawsuit
    • Better Health Care Newsletter from Patrick Malone
    • Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter on Getting Better Health Care
    • Free Fact Kit for Injury Victims
    • Tips for Patient Safety and Better Health Care
    • Health Care Advocates’ Power Kit
    • For Attorneys
    • More Legal Resources
    • Fellow Inner Circle Members
    • DC Hospital Ratings Map
    • Motor Vehicle Accident Blog
    • Washington D.C. Bike Map
    • Commute Risk Calculator
  • Patient Safety Blog
    • ProtectPatientsBlog.com
  • Malpractice A-Z
  • Contact Us

Patrick Malone Law

Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Law Firm | Patrick Malone Law

CALL US TODAY:

202-742-1500
888-625-6635

Are You A Lawyer Seeking Co-Counsel ?
  • About Us
    • Our Attorneys
    • Our Staff
      • Sheila Chavez
      • Marin Gorman
    • Mission Statement
    • Community Service
    • Charities We Support
    • Secret Settlements – Our Stand
    • Patrick Malone & Associates Offers Scholarship to Law Students for Representing Real People
  • Attorneys
    • Patrick Malone
    • Daniel C. Scialpi
    • Alfred Clarke
    • Heather J. Kelly
    • Aaron M. Levine, Of Counsel
    • Peter R. Masciola, Of Counsel
  • Focus Areas
    • Medical Malpractice
      • Hospital Errors
      • Cancer Misdiagnosis
      • Diabetes
      • Kaiser HMO Malpractice
      • Military Malpractice
      • Hospital Security Misconduct
    • Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
      • Brain Injuries From Medical Care
      • Lead Poisoning
      • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
      • TBI Long-Term Care & Rehabilitation
    • Baby & Child Injuries
      • Birth Injuries
      • Infant/Child Brain Injuries
      • Shaken Baby Syndrome
      • Pediatric Anesthesia Errors
      • Jaundice/Kernicterus
      • Bacterial Meningitis
    • Sex Abuse of Children and Youths
      • Sexual Abuse Claims in Washington D.C.
    • Auto, Truck, and Motorcycle Accidents
      • Car Accidents
        • Maryland Car Accidents
        • Virginia Car Accidents
      • Truck Accidents
      • Motorcycle Accidents
      • Pedestrian Accidents
      • Bicycle Accidents
      • Train Accidents
    • Defective & Dangerous Products
    • Dangerous Drugs
      • Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
    • Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
    • Consumer Rights
    • Accounting and Legal Malpractice
      • How To Sue Your Lawyer For Malpractice
      • Common Legal Malpractice Claims
      • Damages For Legal Malpractice
      • Missing The Deadline For A Lawsuit
  • Success
    • Verdicts & Settlements
    • What Our Clients Say
    • True Stories
  • Publications
  • Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Steps in the Legal Process
    • The Jury Trial System
    • Legal Deadlines for Filing Your Personal Injury Lawsuit
    • Better Health Care Newsletter from Patrick Malone
    • Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter on Getting Better Health Care
    • Free Fact Kit for Injury Victims
    • Tips for Patient Safety and Better Health Care
    • Health Care Advocates’ Power Kit
    • For Attorneys
    • More Legal Resources
    • Fellow Inner Circle Members
    • DC Hospital Ratings Map
    • Motor Vehicle Accident Blog
    • Washington D.C. Bike Map
    • Commute Risk Calculator
  • Patient Safety Blog
    • ProtectPatientsBlog.com
  • Malpractice A-Z
  • Contact Us
Call
Contact
Blog
You are here: Home / Malpractice A-Z / Surgical Error

Surgical Error

Surgical error comes in many varieties but is almost never a single isolated slip, at least when serious injury happens to the patient. As a leading study on medical malpractice claims and surgical errors found, the errors that caused serious harm tended to involve multiple failures by multiple individuals at multiple phases of care.

We have much more information about specific types of surgical errors and specific types of injuries that these errors cause in the linked pages at the end of this entry.

Many lay people don’t understand the scope of the surgeon’s job. In most hospitals, the surgeon is not just in charge of carrying out a successful operation. The surgeon also is responsible for the pre-operative preparation. That includes things like developing a blood clot prevention program and a plan to prevent surgical infections.

The surgeon also usually is in charge of the post-surgery follow-up to make sure the patient survives and goes home in good shape. This usually requires the surgeon to visit the patient every day until discharge.

And back to square one: The decision of whether a patient really needs surgery, and what kind should be done, is also usually delegated to the surgeon. So many malpractice issues of misdiagnosis also fit under the topic of surgical error.

Thus, surgery is a complex enterprise that requires good coordination of teams of care providers.

As the study on malpractice claims reported:

Our study reveals that, although patient harm from isolated individual errors occurs, the vast majority of surgical error cases involve multiple layers of failure. Of 258 cases analyzed, most involved more than 1 clinician, and nearly one third involved chains of events crossing multiple phases of care. In 68%, 1 or more of the following 4systems factors contributed to error: communication breakdowns, lack of supervision, technology failures, and patient-related factors. In addition, a surgeon’s lack of experience or technical competence (which can be understood as having both individual and systems components) was a contributing factor in 41% of cases. Individual errors in judgment, vigilance, or memory were certainly not irrelevant. On the contrary, 9 of 10 cases involved at least 1 of these cognitive errors. In more than 80% of cases, however, they acted in concert with other factors in producing harm. This finding was true even among those surgical errors, which, at a superficial level, appeared to be purely technical in nature.

Selwyn Rogers and others, “Analysis of surgical errors in closed malpractice claims at 4 liability insurers,” (Surgery 2006;140:25-33.)

See Also: Our web pages on specific types of surgery:

  • Back surgery
  • Cosmetic surgery
  • Gynecology
  • Laparoscopic surgery errors
  • LASIK surgery
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology
  • Weight loss surgery

See Also: Our web pages on specific surgical errors:

  • Amputation injuries
  • Bile duct injury
  • Blood clot mismanagement
  • Brachial plexus injury
  • Cauda equina syndrome
  • Esophageal perforation
  • Intestinal obstruction
  • Misdiagnosis
  • Nerve damage after surgery
  • Paralysis
  • Pulmonary Embolism
  • Spinal abscess
  • Spinal hematoma
  • Surgical fires
  • Unnecessary surgery
  • Wrong site surgery/ wrong procedure/ wrong patient surgery

Safety Tips

Patient Safety Tip: Finding the Right Surgeon

Experience with the exact type of surgery you are about to undergo is critical to a good outcome. So that makes the patient’s job very straight-forward: You MUST ask the question: “What is your experience with this procedure?” But there’s a lot more to ask as well. Read more…

Consult with an Experienced Malpractice Attorney

If you believe you or a family member has been seriously injured from medical malpractice, medical error, or neglect by a doctor, hospital, nurse, clinic, nursing home or other health care provider, you may want to click here to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney for a free evaluation of your case. You can also email us at info@patrickmalonelaw.com or call us at 202-742-1500 or 888-625-6635 toll-free. We will respond within 24 hours. There is no charge for our initial consultation.

Primary Sidebar

Contact Us

Focus Areas

  • Medical Malpractice
  • Birth Injury
  • Auto, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents
  • Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Defective Products
  • Dangerous Drugs
  • Nursing Home Neglect & Abuse
  • Consumer Rights
  • Accounting & Legal Malpractice

Resources

The Lawsuit Process
  • Free Fact Kit for injury victims
  • FAQs about injuries & the legal process
  • Steps in the legal process
  • Legal deadlines for your lawsuit
  • What to expect from your “independent” medical examination
  • The jury trial system
Medical Resources
  • Patient Safety Tips
  • Health Care Advocates’ Power Kit
  • DC Hospital Rating Map
  • Patient Safety Newsletter
    from Patrick Malone
For Attorneys
  • Books for Attorneys
  • Expert Witness Resources
  • Articles
  • Briefs
  • Closing Arguments in Trial
  • Medical Society Statements on Expert Witness Testimony
  • Cross Examination Transcripts

What Our Clients Say

  • Client reviews on
  • Client reviews on
View more

Patient Safety Blog by Patrick Malone & Associates

  • Communication
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Medications
  • Hospitals
  • Preventive Care
  • Research Studies
  • Accessibility of Health Care
  • Disclosure
  • Primary Care
  • Product Safety
View More Topics

Footer

Our Location

  • PATRICK MALONE & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

    1310 L Street NW
    Suite 800
    Washington, DC 20005

  • Phone: (202) 742-1500
  • Toll Free: (888) 625-6635
  • EMAIL
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Linkedin

What We Do

  • Brain And Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Birth Injury
  • Auto, Truck And Motorcycle Injuries
  • Defective And Dangerous Products
  • Dangerous Drugs
  • Nursing Home Neglect And Abuse
  • Consumer Rights
  • Accounting and Legal Malpractice

Directions

Get Directions

© 2023 Patrick Malone & Associates, P.C. | All Rights Reserved | Legal Notice