Top Ten Malpractice Claims

[IN2B8R]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Some not so surprising, others are....

1. Dental
2. Death
3. Nerve Damage
4. Brain Damage
5. Tissue Injury
6. Surgical Complications
7. Vision Loss
8. Burns
9. Infection
10. Retained Instruments

discuss...

 

[rsgillmd]

Some not so surprising, others are....

1. Dental
2. Death
3. Nerve Damage
4. Brain Damage
5. Tissue Injury
6. Surgical Complications
7. Vision Loss
8. Burns
9. Infection
10. Retained Instruments

discuss...

1-4, and 7 are not surprising.

What is surprising is not seeing airway on there. Does brain damage refer to that caused by anoxic injury?

I have no clue what 5 means. Too vague.

I would be curious to know what surgical complications anesthesiologists would be sued for.

8 I guess shouldn't be surprising with everyone saying fires are more common than we think, but it is still a little surprising.

I would be curious to know what infections we are sued for. Meningitis? Line related?

I am surprised to see us being sued for retained instruments. Were these situations where proper protocols weren't followed and it behooved the anesthesiologist to speak up?

IN2B8R, where did you get these from? Closed claims database?

 

[cleansocks]

As I understand it, often times everyone and their dog is sued in a medical malpractice claim. The more "deep pockets" the better. So these non-anesthesia related ones aren't that surprising to me either.

 

[IN2B8R]

1-4, and 7 are not surprising.

What is surprising is not seeing airway on there. Does brain damage refer to that caused by anoxic injury?

I have no clue what 5 means. Too vague.

I would be curious to know what surgical complications anesthesiologists would be sued for.

8 I guess shouldn't be surprising with everyone saying fires are more common than we think, but it is still a little surprising.

I would be curious to know what infections we are sued for. Meningitis? Line related?

I am surprised to see us being sued for retained instruments. Were these situations where proper protocols weren't followed and it behooved the anesthesiologist to speak up?

IN2B8R, where did you get these from? Closed claims database?

rsgillmd: the source for this is PPM: The Preferred Physicians Medical Risk Retention Group, Inc. They are one of the biggest--if not the biggest--companies for Anesthesiology malpractice insurance.
Listening to the representative malpractice laywer giving a talk to our group last night, I maybe able to answer some of your questions: as far as AW loss is concerned, death and brain damage (usually resultant) sort of cover that complication... But brain damage is rather broad and could include anoxic, ischemic (patient was too hypotensive, for example) or, disturbingly, even embolic, i.e., s/p CEA.... Tissue injury referred to ulcers, skin breakdown sort of stuff, especially after long cases (which is different from nerve damage and burns)--the guy actually showed us disturbing pictures in his lecture.... As for infections, this mostly related to post-op infections, including but not limited to abscess formation, sepsis, etc....(point was made over and over to document Abx's admin time, etc....but that, of course only helped and didn't hinder you from getting named in the claim.... Really **** that is out of our control sometimes that we get nailed on, since there's a big "hook" that always sucks us in: a patient "time out" is one of those big hooks....if wrong site surgery gets performed and you are part of the time out, guess who's gonna get named besides the surgeon?...This is similar to when you hear that the "instrument count" was off: if your name is in the computer, you have signed off on the count and can get hooked.....

 

[IN2B8R]

As I understand it, often times everyone and their dog is sued in a medical malpractice claim. The more "deep pockets" the better. So these non-anesthesia related ones aren't that surprising to me either.

Yea, but certain things are obviously more defendable than others--at least that is the message that I got last night listening to a malpractice lawyer speak... I think the VBAC's issue was really informative for me personally....

 

[jwk]

This is similar to when you hear that the "instrument count" was off: if your name is in the computer, you have signed off on the count and can get hooked.....

I'd be interested in knowing if an anesthesia provider has ever gotten tagged with the incorrect surgical count. Somehow I doubt it. Anyone and everyone can be sued - whether they're found liable or not is a totally different issue.

But just in case - remember that all occurrences for retained instruments or sponges were "correct counts". 😉

 

[IN2B8R]

I'd be interested in knowing if an anesthesia provider has ever gotten tagged with the incorrect surgical count. Somehow I doubt it. Anyone and everyone can be sued - whether they're found liable or not is a totally different issue.

But just in case - remember that all occurrences for retained instruments or sponges were "correct counts". 😉

The answer is yes, there have been anesthesiologists who have been successfully sued for wrong counts.

 

[jwk]

The answer is yes, there have been anesthesiologists who have been successfully sued for wrong counts.

That's really a stretch in anyone's book, no offense. Even with joint and several liability, how would an anesthesiologist be found culpable in such a case? I can easily understand surgeon, scrub, circulator, and hospital, but not anesthesia. Got a case citation?

 

[IN2B8R]

That's really a stretch in anyone's book, no offense. Even with joint and several liability, how would an anesthesiologist be found culpable in such a case? I can easily understand surgeon, scrub, circulator, and hospital, but not anesthesia. Got a case citation?

This is coming directly from a lawyer's live presentation to our group. Not my claim. You may call the Preferred Physicians Medical Risk Group (they are one of the biggest anesthesia insurance companies in the U.S.) and ask any of their lawyers for a specific case citation. That fact that it is number 10 on the claims list tells you that there has been claims made against anesthesiologists for wrong counts. It is not a far stretch when a final count has not been performed: your name is entered into the CPU as having been the anesthesiologists (thus you have signed off on the final count, whether you care to believe that or not), and you can get successfully sued for it...

 

[SouthSideSteve]

This is coming directly from a lawyer's live presentation to our group. Not my claim. You may call the Preferred Physicians Medical Risk Group (they are one of the biggest anesthesia insurance companies in the U.S.) and ask any of their lawyers for a specific case citation. That fact that it is number 10 on the claims list tells you that there has been claims made against anesthesiologists for wrong counts. It is not a far stretch when a final count has not been performed: your name is entered into the CPU as having been the anesthesiologists (thus you have signed off on the final count, whether you care to believe that or not), and you can get successfully sued for it...

See this doesnt make sense to me either. I work in the OR and when I enter a count it is only between the scrub and myself. I could see the surgeon being held liable, but anesthesia isnt even in the equation for a count. I dont know why anesthesia would even be charted in the count, since they don't participate in it.

Maybe these occur from just naming everyone in the chart on a retained object suit?

 

[IN2B8R]

See this doesnt make sense to me either. I work in the OR and when I enter a count it is only between the scrub and myself. I could see the surgeon being held liable, but anesthesia isnt even in the equation for a count. I dont know why anesthesia would even be charted in the count, since they don't participate in it.

Maybe these occur from just naming everyone in the chart on a retained object suit?

When you put the name of the Anesthesiologist into the CPU, you ARE saying that the physician heard you say "the final count is correct." Thus, this is a hook that we, as anesthesiologists, cannot avoid!