$1.1 Million for Anesthesia Malpractice at Ambulatory Surgery Center

With the proliferation of outpatient surgery centers (“ambulatory surgery centers”), more and more medical mistakes are taking places in locations where the standards are reduced, oversight is poor, and consequences are grave.

A man who was having outpatient shoulder surgery for a car accident suffered a stroke because of anesthesia mistakes during his surgery.  The 55 year-old man was having the surgery at an ambulatory surgery center to repair his rotator cuff.  The anesthesiologist failed to maintain reasonable blood pressures, and the result was a stroke.  The resulting effects of the stroke included decreased cognition – reduced ability to function and understand things, and the inability to work at his job any more.

The man was discharged and sent home from the ambulatory surgery center without even being told that he required further care.  His wife observed his neurologic and behavioral changes almost immediately, and sought hospital care.  It was at the hospital later that day where his stroke was properly diagnosed.

This former truck driver retained Leighton Law to handle his medical malpractice case.  John Leighton and Max Panoff obtained a $1.1 million settlement on his behalf which will provide him financial security.  Outpatient surgeries at ambulatory surgery centers have become common as insurance companies seek to reduce the costs of surgery.  Yet the centers carry limited insurance, do not provide oversight, and allow physicians to treat this as their own private hospital.  Unfortunately the standards at ambulatory surgery facilities are not the same as those at hospitals.  In many cases, the surgeons enter a “lease” with the surgery centers to lease out an operating room and hire temporary staff, who are not considered employees of the surgery center.  Since many surgeons in Florida do not carry malpractice insurance, it leaves the patients with little recourse when they are victimized by a serious medical mistake.

This case was an example of an outpatient surgery gone bad.  The medical mistakes to our client cost him his health.

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