There is definitely an irony in life when you go into surgery to relieve a problem, only to find that the surgeons created a worse problem for you. This happens more often than the medical community would like to admit. The legal system recognizes this failure in the medical community and has been awarding steep judgments to encourage medical personnel to be more careful and diligent.
July is the worst month to have surgery
If you are suffering from the after-effects of a surgery gone wrong, and you had your surgery during July, you are not alone. ABC News did a special report on a study that found more fatal errors took place in hospitals during the month of July, than the other 11 months combined.
The July effect, as it has been called, is in part due to the hiring of the new interns just out of school during this month. The lack of experience and knowledge has resulted in many surgical complications. In addition to new interns, July is also a popular vacation month, meaning many of the trained and high-caliber surgical personnel are on vacation.
Know who will actually be performing your surgery
During any surgery, there is a team present including surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses. The actual procedure may be done by a lead surgeon, but not always. Oftentimes lead surgeons have several surgeries happening simultaneously and may only make a cursory overview of each surgery being performed. A lesser skilled surgeon, or even a resident, may perform the actual surgery and this can result in injuries to the patient.
Get legal help
If you or a loved one was injured during surgery, contact a medical malpractice attorney. You may have a right to compensation. And remember, if your surgery is elective, consider waiting until after the summer months to go under the knife.
