Surgical Errors Lawyer in Massachusetts

Surgical Errors as Medical Malpractice

Surgery is inherently a high-risk medical intervention, and not every complication of surgery constitutes malpractice. But when a complication results from a surgeon’s departure from the standard of surgical care, from improper technique, failure to identify and protect anatomical structures, failure to recognize and manage intraoperative complications, or failure to obtain informed consent, the resulting harm may be legally compensable. Attorney Jeffrey C. Lavey represents surgical error victims throughout Massachusetts and evaluates every surgical outcome against the applicable surgical standard of care.

Common Surgical Errors

• Inadvertent injury to adjacent structures during the surgical procedure
• Failure to achieve adequate hemostasis resulting in significant intraoperative or postoperative bleeding
• Wrong-site, wrong-procedure, or wrong-patient surgery
• Retained surgical instruments: sponges, needles, or instruments left inside the patient
• Failure to recognize and respond appropriately to intraoperative complications
• Inadequate wound closure resulting in dehiscence or hernia
• Failure to convert from laparoscopic to open approach when indicated by developing complications

Informed Consent and Surgical Error

A surgeon must obtain the patient’s informed consent before performing surgery. This requires disclosing the nature of the procedure, its risks and benefits, the available alternatives, and what will happen if surgery is not performed. A patient who consents to a procedure without being informed of material risks that a reasonable patient would have considered important in their decision-making may have an informed consent claim independent of any surgical technique error. Attorney Lavey evaluates informed consent issues alongside technical surgical error analysis in every case.

Post-Operative Surgical Negligence

Surgical negligence does not end when the procedure concludes. Post-operative care failures, failure to monitor for complications, failure to recognize signs of infection or bleeding, delayed response to deteriorating vital signs in the recovery room, and failure to provide appropriate post-discharge instructions, can cause serious harm in the period following an otherwise properly performed procedure. Attorney Lavey evaluates the full perioperative course, before, during, and after surgery, in every surgical malpractice case.

Expert Surgical Testimony

Surgical malpractice cases require expert testimony from a surgeon in the relevant specialty who can address the standard of care for the specific procedure, identify the departure from that standard in the defendant’s technique or decisions, and explain how the departure caused the specific harm suffered. Attorney Lavey works with leading surgical specialists in every surgical malpractice case and ensures that the expert testimony is as specific and authoritative as the case requires.

Frequently Asked Questions