Salt Lake Medical Malpractice Lawyer Discusses Nerve Compression and Burns During Surgery
By Jared Faerber of The Faerber Law Firm
No one expects to report for an abdominal or knee surgery and come out of the operation with a permanent nerve injury or burn to a completely different part of the body. Yet this occurs more often than necessary in Utah hospitals and surgical centers. It is often the result of malpractice.
Improper positioning and padding during surgery can lead to compression neuropathy, A condition wherein nerves become compressed or entrapped due to trauma, pressure, and inflammation. The result can be permanent loss of nerve function, numbness, pain, and weakness. Although procedures such as carpal tunnel release can improve symptoms, many nerve injuries are permanent and disabling. Surgical patients also occasionally suffer burns during procedures due to the misuse of heating pads.
How can a patient's lawyer in Utah prove a compressional neuropathy or burn resulted from negligence during a surgical procedure rather than from some other cause? After all, the patient is completely unconscious and has no way of knowing exactly what occurred during the procedure.
Utah law is uncharacteristically favorable to injury victims in these cases. The legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur may allow the injured party to raise an inference of negligence. Simply put, res ipsa applies when the injury is the kind of thing that usually doesn't happen unless someone made an error, the defendants had control of the situation, and the injured patient did not cause their own injury. See Baczuk v. Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, 8 P.3d 1037 (Utah Ct. App. 2000).
As a Utah medical malpractice attorney, I have successfully brought these types of claims for injured plaintiffs. I have helped those who have suffered ulnar neuropathy, compartment syndrome, and other injuries during surgery. They are not easy claims, even with the favorable law, as defendants will sometimes contest the severity of the injury even if they admit liability. Yet injury victims deserve a fair opportunity to recover for situations they did not expect or create. I enjoy helping patients reach this goal.
No one expects to report for an abdominal or knee surgery and come out of the operation with a permanent nerve injury or burn to a completely different part of the body. Yet this occurs more often than necessary in Utah hospitals and surgical centers. It is often the result of malpractice.
Improper positioning and padding during surgery can lead to compression neuropathy, A condition wherein nerves become compressed or entrapped due to trauma, pressure, and inflammation. The result can be permanent loss of nerve function, numbness, pain, and weakness. Although procedures such as carpal tunnel release can improve symptoms, many nerve injuries are permanent and disabling. Surgical patients also occasionally suffer burns during procedures due to the misuse of heating pads.
How can a patient's lawyer in Utah prove a compressional neuropathy or burn resulted from negligence during a surgical procedure rather than from some other cause? After all, the patient is completely unconscious and has no way of knowing exactly what occurred during the procedure.
Utah law is uncharacteristically favorable to injury victims in these cases. The legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur may allow the injured party to raise an inference of negligence. Simply put, res ipsa applies when the injury is the kind of thing that usually doesn't happen unless someone made an error, the defendants had control of the situation, and the injured patient did not cause their own injury. See Baczuk v. Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, 8 P.3d 1037 (Utah Ct. App. 2000).
As a Utah medical malpractice attorney, I have successfully brought these types of claims for injured plaintiffs. I have helped those who have suffered ulnar neuropathy, compartment syndrome, and other injuries during surgery. They are not easy claims, even with the favorable law, as defendants will sometimes contest the severity of the injury even if they admit liability. Yet injury victims deserve a fair opportunity to recover for situations they did not expect or create. I enjoy helping patients reach this goal.
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