My husband thinks that I should claim compensation for an anaesthesia error during a hospital operation after I woke up halfway through an operation. However the thought of having to go to court frightens me. What are my options?
You are best advised to discuss your options for a claim for compensation for anaesthesia error during hospital operation with a medical negligence claims solicitor at the first possible moment. After they have been informed of your situation and the subsequent affect being awake during an operation has had on your life, they will be able to advise you on the viability of your claim in addition to putting your mind at ease over the claims process. What you experienced is known as “anaesthetic awareness”, a horrific experience that no patient should ever been put through.
It suggests a demonstration of negligence on the part of one of the medical practitioners who treated you. Before an operation begins, there are a number of procedures that must be followed to ensure that a patient will not react adversely to anaesthetic. Furthermore, if the stress you will have experienced upon awaking mid operation was not sensed by the anaesthetist who should have been monitoring you during the procedure, this also reflects negligence.
In order to establish negligence, your solicitor will obtain any relevant medical notes pertaining to the error that was made with anaesthesia during your operation and present them to an independent medical expert. This medical expert will examine the medical notes and determine if negligence can be established and if what you experienced could have been avoided in alternative circumstances. Your solicitor will determine whether or not to proceed with your claim for a hospital anaesthetic mistake based on what this expert concludes.
It would also be advisable for you to seek treatment from a counsellor to strengthen your claim for compensation for an anaesthesia error during your hospital operation. Anaesthetic awareness can often result in long term psychological injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The fact that you are fearful of having to go to court to settle your claim for the error made with anaesthesia during your operation is also reflective of the fact that you could be suffering from a psychological injury. You should discuss these feelings with your counsellor and your solicitor. You should also rest assured that medical negligence claims rarely have to be settled in court unless it a claim for a catastrophic injury, so you should not delay making a claim for a hospital anaesthetic mistake because of this fear.
If you wish to claim compensation for an anaesthesia error during a hospital operation, you should discuss this with a medical negligence claims solicitor. They will be able to advise you on your options for how best to pursue your claim in addition to providing you with more specific legal advice than what has been provided here Therefore you should make an appointment for a consultation with a solicitor at the first available opportunity.