POLICY LIMITS – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE – Anesthesia Error During Outpatient Procedure

A man in his early 60s went for his routine colonoscopy.  He was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea.  The pre-op paperwork he completed a few days before the procedure asked if he had ever been diagnosed with sleep apnea.  Not even realizing the import of the question, he responded truthfully with “yes” providing the date of his recent diagnoses.

A sleep apnea patient is at a much greater risk of complication during anesthesia. During sleep apnea, muscles in the throat collapse, cutting off a person’s airway (and hence needed oxygen) during sleep.  The brain senses the body is being deprived of oxygen and causes the person to wake up long enough to restore the airway and needed oxygen to the brain and body.

Anesthesia is designed to prevent a patient from waking up.  Thus, a sleep apnea patient under anesthesia is at greater risk of being deprived of oxygen during periods when his/her airway is obstructed due to his condition.

Consequently, patients with sleep apnea often are not candidates for having colonoscopies at outpatient surgical centers.  Many times they need to have procedures performed at hospitals with greater access to equipment and personnel in the event of an emergency.

The anesthesiologist for our client’s case went ahead with the procedure at the outpatient surgical center.  She then failed to monitor him closely.  When the surgeon completed the procedure and turned the patient around, she noticed his face was blue.  He had stopped breathing.  9-1-1 was called and paramedics were able to resuscitate him.  Unfortunately, his brain had been deprived of oxygen too long and lacked the capacity for meaningful life.

The insurer for the anesthesiologist tendered their policy limits shortly before trial.

Bryan Baer

Attorney Bryan Baer has twenty (20) years of legal experience representing clients in serious and catastrophic personal injury and medical malpractice cases. He has been first chair in more than a dozen twelve-person jury trials on both the plaintiff and defense sides. Recognized as a leader in his legal community, he is frequently asked to speak at legal seminars on trial topics ranging from “Best Practices in Voire Dire” to “Maximizing Damages at Trial” as well as insurance issues such as “Navigating the Insurance Landscape” and “Injury Demands & Negotiations.” Learn more here.