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When a patient is unable to breathe on their own, either due to surgical sedation or because of a medical emergency, intubation can be an essential and potentially life-saving measure for their physicians to take. This procedure entails carefully inserting a tube into the patient’s airway to preserve their intake of oxygen, and a failure to perform the procedure correctly can cause physical damage to the patient’s throat or esophagus, result in air being pumped into the patient’s stomach instead of their lungs, and/or lead to severe brain damage stemming from oxygen deprivation.
Like many other medical mistakes, failure by healthcare providers to intubate someone correctly can serve as grounds for legal action, which a qualified medical malpractice attorney can help pursue. However, if you want to maximize your chances of recovering effectively from this unique type of professional misconduct, you should specifically seek the assistance of a Philadelphia intubation complications lawyer from Lowenthal & Abrams who has experience handling claims of this nature.
When Does an Intubation Error Qualify as Malpractice?
While surgical or emergency intubation is by no means a simple process, it is one with well-established steps that providers are expected to follow and “markers” they are expected to look for in order to ensure breathing tubes are inserted and secured correctly. Someone who allows a patient to suffer serious physical harm specifically because they failed to follow established steps, check for proper placement of a breathing tube, or was simply imprecise while inserting the tube, may have violated the standard of care applicable to them.
As a Philadelphia intubation injury attorney can explain in more detail, a physician’s standard of care is determined by what another physician with equivalent skills and experiences would reasonably have done under the same working conditions. So, while minor injuries during an emergency situation might not qualify as unreasonable by the standards of other doctors, errors in tube placement that a responsible physician would have known better than to commit may serve as a valid cause of action for a malpractice lawsuit.
Holding Hospitals Liable for a Physician’s Misconduct
An individual healthcare professional who injures a patient by intubating them incorrectly can be held personally liable for the consequences of their malpractice, which in practice typically means filing a claim against the company providing them with malpractice insurance coverage. In some situations, though, it is also possible to name the hospital where an act of malpractice occurred as a co-defendant in an ensuing settlement demand or lawsuit.
Depending on the circumstances, this could entail holding a medical facility vicariously liable for misconduct by one of its employees on the job, or holding facility management directly liable for substandard hiring practices or for failing to ensure contracted physicians on site followed specific safety precautions while treating patients. A lawyer from our Philadelphia office can discuss who might be legally liable for your intubation complications during a confidential consultation.
Speak With a Philadelphia Intubation Complications Attorney About Your Legal Options
Intubating a patient is a time-sensitive and delicate medical procedure, and even seemingly minor deviations from the standard steps of this procedure can have life-threatening repercussions. If you or a loved one suffered serious harm because your doctor(s) breached the standard of care owed to you in this way, you have help available from compassionate legal counsel with demanding comprehensive compensation.
A Philadelphia intubation complications lawyer from Lowenthal & Abrams can be an invaluable ally from the beginning to the end of the litigation process. Call today to set up a private initial meeting.
