Anesthesia Lawsuits

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - Delaware - New York - Nationwide

An estimated 150 deaths are recorded each year in the United States due to anesthesia complications that occur during surgery and other medical care. Anesthesia errors also resulted in injuries including tracheal damage, brain damage, birth defects, spinal cord injury leading to paralysis, heart attacks and stroke.

Among the causes of medical malpractice due to anesthesia errors are harmful drug interactions, the use of too little or too much anesthesia, failure to recognize allergic reactions, defective medical devices, loss of airway, and inattention by medical staff.

If you or someone you love suffered a severe injury or death due to medical malpractice involving anesthesia, you should contact an anesthesia attorney for a free evaluation of your case.

Kline & Specter, P.C., has some 30 attorneys, several of whom are also doctors, with the experience to investigate and litigate potential cases of anesthesia errors. Among the firm’s attorneys is Gary Zakeosian, who is also a board-certified anesthesiologist who has represented a number of patients who suffered anesthesia injuries.

One well-known case was that of Adam Covenko, a 24-year-old Philadelphian and former wrestler who underwent a routine rhinoplasty two weeks before he was to be married. He wound up dead. The cause was improper removal of an airway tube resulting in Covenko losing his airway for several minutes. Zakeosian and Tom Kline obtained a substantial settlement in the case. (See Fox News clip)

Another case involved a four-year-old girl who suffered brain damage while being tested for diabetes. Dr. Zakeosian discovered that she had been too heavily sedated during the procedures, causing respiratory depression, and that she had not been properly monitored. The firm won a multi-million dollar settlement.

Dr. Zakeosian helped determine in yet another case that an anesthesiologist was responsible for a woman suffering a stroke and resulting paralysis after her blood pressure was allowed to drop too low during surgery. Again, the case concluded with a substantial settlement.

Statistics compiled by the National Institutes of Health showed 2,211 recorded anesthesia-related deaths in the United States during 1999–2005, with 42.5 percent due to adverse effects of anesthetics in therapeutic use, 3.6% to complications of anesthesia during pregnancy, labor, and puerperium, and 7.3% to other complications of anesthesia. It noted that anesthesia-related deaths were more prevalent among male and elderly patients.

Contact an anesthesia lawyer today.