Baltimore Amputation Malpractice Lawyers

Fighting for Victims of Amputation Malpractice in Baltimore, MD

Coming to grips with a decision to amputate a limb is a heartbreaking one that is all too often compounded when there is a medical mistake resulting in the amputation. Medical negligence related to amputations generally falls into one of five categories:

• Human error in removing the wrong limb
• Intraoperative mistakes made during a procedure for another reason
• Failure to timely and appropriately diagnose and treat infection
• Failure to ensure proper blood flow to a limb, sometimes caused by a medication allergy
• Human error in a pre-operative diagnosis

Amputation Errors

Despite state-of-the-art advancements in how to appropriately document (pre-operatively) what part of the body is to be operated on, episodes of human error still occur, even when the body part is checked with the patient multiple times. In short, the errors sometimes begin with the simple erroneous recording of the limb to be removed (right vs. left).

This information is then relayed to staff members in the operating room who mark the patient's limb to be removed. Doctors are supposed to sign their signature on the body part to be amputated. While one could assume that patients are supposed to be part of the "limb identification" process, health care providers have overlooked asking for verification under the assumption that they have the correct limb.

A second cause of erroneous amputations occurs when health care providers are operating on a limb and make a mistake during that procedure that results in the need to amputate that limb (when doing so was never the plan).

A third example of amputation error occurs when a physician fails to timely diagnose an infection or is aware of the presence of an infection such as gangrene and attempts to remove the infected tissue or bone to stop the infection, but they do so negligently, allowing for the continued spread of infection and the ultimate need to amputate the limb. Mismanagement of infections is the most common error resulting in amputation that our office sees.

A fourth example occurs in the setting of a known patient allergy to a particular medication, i.e., a patient's allergy to Heparin, a blood thinner. A small percentage of patients who receive Heparin develop what is known as Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT), a condition in which the patient's blood will begin to clot immediately upon the introduction of Heparin into their bloodstream. The end result is decreased blood flow to the limb or limbs and the death of the surrounding tissue, leading to amputation or even worse, wrongful death.

Finally, amputation errors can occur in the pre-operative setting, again due to human error. The most common type of error that our office sees in this setting is one in which the physician negligently diagnoses a patient with cancer in a limb and advises the removal of that limb. Post-operatively, when the tissue from that limb is examined by a pathologist, it is discovered that the physician negligently diagnosed the patient with cancer when, in fact, he or she did not have cancer. In short, the procedure to remove the limb was unnecessary.

Amputation can have significant future impacts on a person's life, including limited mobility, an inability to continue working, and costs associated with rehabilitation and prosthetics. These costs are extremely expensive, and health insurance does not always pay for the best and most advanced prosthetics.

Contact Our Baltimore, Maryland Amputation Malpractice Attorneys

When amputations occur because of medical negligence, patients will need to understand their legal options. At Silverman Thompson, attorneys Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz can help amputation victims identify errors by medical professionals and take steps to hold them responsible for causing a person to suffer harm. To arrange a free consultation, contact our Baltimore amputation injury lawyers at 410-385-2225.