Intubation is the technique of placing a tube into a patient’s airway to ensure they obtain enough oxygen when they can’t breathe on their own. While intubation can be a life-saving medical operation and is frequently performed during surgery, it is a difficult process in which even little mistakes can have serious, if not fatal, effects. If you have suffered an airway injury or an intubation error, contact one of the experienced malpractice attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano to see if you have a claim for compensation. We help clients throughout Upstate New York, with offices in multiple convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the medical malpractice field is reflected in the results we have achieved for our clients.
Failure to properly place the tracheal tube is a typical intubation mistake. When nurses and anesthesiologists make intubation errors, the airway might be lacerated or not enough oxygen is supplied. Intubation errors and medical carelessness can result in nerve damage, airway injury, and death. Airway injuries are a well-known anesthetic consequence. Many adverse respiratory events have been reported to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Laryngeal, pharyngeal, and esophageal injuries are common. In general, intubation allows doctors to study airways or help patients breathe. Complications can include vocal cord damage, infection, fluid buildup, throat injuries, tearing of chest tissues resulting in lung collapse, tooth injury, dental work damage, and aspiration. When a doctor conducts intubation in an emergency, complications are more likely. Yet, intubation is sometimes a life-saving procedure.
When errors occur during the intubation process, they can include the tube not being properly positioned within the esophagus; tubes becoming detached, kinked, bent, or dislodged; tubes becoming overinflated, and tubing puncturing the sensitive tissues of the mouth and airways. When such intubation errors occur, they can cause potentially catastrophic damage to patients. Some of the possible complications include traumatic brain injury when intubation errors cut off people’s supply of vital oxygen, internal bleeding and/or nerve damage when tubing punctures patients’ tissues, irregular heartbeat and/or stroke, severe infections when intubation errors and their resulting complications go unnoticed or untreated.
Although intubation errors can occur at any time, they are more likely to occur when longer-term intubation is required (due to the severity of patients’ health conditions, for example), tracheotomies have been performed, patients’ mouths or throats are abnormally shaped or simply smaller than normal, or medical professionals are inexperienced, improperly trained, or otherwise negligent.
In the emergency room, which is a busy environment, intubation difficulties can occur. The patient who arrives to the ER in need of emergency care may suffer catastrophic injury or death as a result. A hospital may be held vicariously accountable for an ER doctor’s conduct or omissions related to intubation difficulties that constitute medical malpractice.
A patient’s health and finances can suffer as a result of a medical blunder. If an intubation complication occurred as a result of a medical professional’s negligence or error, you may be eligible to seek compensation for your losses through a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice is a legal action based on negligence in the provision of healthcare. When a patient suffers preventable damage as a direct result of a medical practitioner’s care or treatment deviating from the standard of care that a medical expert in the same specialty would have employed in the same or a similar situation, this sort of claim emerges. It is crucial to remember that not all negative outcomes are the consequence of medical negligence. Rather, medical malpractice arises when a deviation from the standard of care by a medical professional is the direct cause of the patient’s injury.
Intubation problems can result in wrongful death on rare occasions. A wrongful death is one caused by the carelessness, recklessness, wrongful act, or intentional misbehavior of another. By filing a civil case, you can hold the individual or entity responsible for the loss. A wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of death. If a claim is not filed within the required time frame, it may be banned.
If you have been injured or a loved one suffered a wrongful death due to intubation complications, you can discuss the possibility of recovering damages with a skillful trial lawyer. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers represents patients and families of those harmed due to intubation complications in Upstate New York, including Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, Lowville, Watertown, Canandaigua, Oswego, Ithaca, Binghamton, Cooperstown, Utica, Auburn, Oneida, Herkimer, Lyons, Elmira, and Wampsville. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.