Surgical error victims in Tulsa who were harmed by a surgeon’s negligence have the right to pursue compensation from every party responsible. We review the surgical record, identify what the standard of care required, and tell you whether your situation may support a malpractice claim.
When what happened in that operating room was the result of negligence, not a known complication, you have options. The distance between what you were told and what actually occurred is where most surgical malpractice cases begin.
Patients are not present for their own surgical errors. The providers who were present work for the same institution. Medical records, while available, rarely tell the complete story without someone who knows how to read them.
Call (918) 359-6600 for a free consultation. We handle seriously injured patients in Tulsa and across Oklahoma, and you pay nothing unless there is a recovery on your behalf.
The question in a surgical malpractice case is whether the surgeon’s conduct fell below the standard a reasonably competent surgeon would have met under the same circumstances. Oklahoma law does not hold physicians liable for complications that fall within the known risks of a correctly performed procedure.
The distinction matters because it is not always obvious from the patient’s side. A nerve injury can be a known complication, or it can result from a surgeon operating outside the appropriate anatomical field.
An infection can be an unfortunate outcome, or it can trace back to a break in sterile technique. A perforation can happen to a competent surgeon, or it can reflect a technique failure that an independent medical reviewer will identify in the operative record.
That analysis requires a qualified medical professional and a thorough review of the surgical record. It is not something a patient can assess alone, and it is not something a hospital is likely to volunteer.
Operating on the wrong body part or performing a procedure on the wrong patient are classified as never events by federal health regulators: errors that should not occur when proper pre-operative protocols are followed. CMS has addressed wrong-site and wrong-patient surgeries directly through national coverage determinations specifically targeting these preventable errors.
When they do occur, the institutional and individual failures that allowed them are generally well-documented in the pre-operative record and the surgical checklist, or in the absence of those documents.
Anesthesia errors can support a malpractice claim when the anesthesiologist’s conduct falls below the accepted standard of care. Improper dosing, failure to account for drug interactions, and inadequate monitoring are each recognized grounds for a claim.
Anesthesiologists operate under the same standard of care framework as surgeons and may be named as defendants alongside the operating surgeon and the hospital.
Nerve damage that results in chronic pain, loss of function, or permanent disability can support a malpractice claim when it traces back to improper technique, positioning errors, or a surgeon’s failure to stay within the appropriate operative field.
Unintended perforation of the bowel, bladder, or surrounding organs during abdominal or laparoscopic procedures can result from a technique error, a failure to recognize anatomical landmarks, or an inadequate response to a complication as it becomes apparent.
Unintended perforation of the bowel, bladder, or surrounding organs during abdominal or laparoscopic procedures can result from a technique error, a failure to recognize anatomical landmarks, or an inadequate response to a complication as it becomes apparent.
Delayed recognition of an intraoperative injury, where a surgeon proceeds without addressing internal damage, can independently support a malpractice claim.
Surgical malpractice does not end when the incision closes. Post-operative failures, including inadequate monitoring, delayed response to signs of infection or internal bleeding, and premature discharge before a patient was clinically stable, are each evaluated against the same standard of care framework as the intraoperative conduct.
If you were seriously injured and you are unsure whether what happened to you falls into one of these categories, a free case review with Graves McLain is the right place to start. Call (918) 359-6600.
The surgeon holds primary responsibility for the conduct of the procedure. Errors in technique, decision-making during the operation, and the management of intraoperative complications all fall within the surgeon’s scope of responsibility. When those decisions fall below the standard a competent surgeon would meet, the surgeon may face personal liability.
Anesthesiologists function as independent practitioners within the surgical team and carry their own standard of care obligations. An anesthesiologist named as a defendant in a surgical malpractice case is evaluated separately from the surgeon, based on the conduct specific to their role.
Surgical nurses and scrub technicians carry defined responsibilities within the operating room. Failures in instrument counts, breaks in sterile technique, or errors in the execution of intraoperative protocols may support liability against individual team members or the nursing staff as a whole.
Tulsa-area hospitals have independent duties that run alongside the obligations of the individual providers on staff. Inadequate credentialing, failure to enforce surgical safety protocols, and systemic failures in pre-operative verification procedures can each support institutional liability separate from the conduct of any individual surgeon or nurse.
Cases arising from surgeries performed at Tulsa-area facilities may be filed in Tulsa County District Court or in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, depending on the specific parties and circumstances of the claim.
A valid surgical malpractice claim in Oklahoma requires proving two things: that the surgeon or another provider’s conduct fell below the accepted standard of care, and that this breach directly caused the patient’s injury.
Both elements require medical testimony from a licensed provider in the same or a substantially similar specialty.
The standard of care is not perfection. It is what a reasonably competent surgeon, operating under the same conditions with the same patient presentation, would have done. Medical testimony from a licensed specialist establishes that benchmark and measures the defendant’s conduct against it.
Oklahoma’s medical malpractice statute of limitations found in Oklahoma Statute Title 12 § 95 gives patients two years from the date they discovered the injury, or reasonably should have discovered it, to file a claim. For surgical errors, that window often does not open on the date of the procedure.
A patient who undergoes surgery and experiences an unexplained decline may not learn that a surgical error caused it until weeks or months later, when a second provider reviews the operative record and identifies what went wrong.
The discovery rule protects patients in that situation by tying the deadline to the point of discovery, not the date of the surgery itself.
Some states impose a ceiling on what an injured patient can recover for pain, suffering, and lost quality of life. Oklahoma is not one of them.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled the state’s prior statutory limit on non-economic damages unconstitutional, and no replacement cap has been enacted.
What that means in a surgical malpractice case is that a jury’s assessment of what your suffering is worth is not subject to an arbitrary statutory cutoff after the verdict comes in.
When negligence is established, recoverable damages in a surgical malpractice case typically include the cost of corrective procedures and additional medical treatment made necessary by the error, and lost income during recovery.
In cases involving permanent impairment, recovery may also include future lost earning capacity and compensation for chronic pain, permanent disability, and reduced quality of life.
In cases involving reckless conduct, Oklahoma law permits punitive damages capped at $100,000, or $500,000 where intentional or malicious conduct is established.
If a surgical error left you with permanent harm, lost income, or ongoing medical needs, call (918) 359-6600 for a free case review. You pay nothing unless there is a recovery on your behalf.
Patients who believe a surgical error caused them harm should take the following steps before signing any release or accepting any payment from the hospital or its insurer.
Operative records and surgical logs are not held indefinitely. Acting sooner rather than later protects your access to the evidence a claim depends on.
If your recovery has not followed the expected course, if you received unexpected information about what occurred during your procedure, or if your providers are offering vague or inconsistent answers about why something went wrong, those are signals worth a legal evaluation. A free case review gives you a clear picture of whether what happened may constitute actionable negligence.
Consent forms acknowledge the known risks of a procedure performed correctly. They do not waive a patient’s right to bring a malpractice claim when a surgeon’s error falls outside those disclosed risks or when the care delivered fell below the standard a competent surgeon would have met. Signing a consent form does not close the door on a claim.
That explanation warrants scrutiny, not acceptance. Hospitals have a strong institutional interest in characterizing errors as complications. A qualified medical professional reviewing your operative record may reach a different conclusion. Many patients who were told their outcome was an expected complication later discover, through independent review, that what occurred reflected a departure from the standard of care.
Supervising surgeons carry responsibility for the conduct of residents operating under their oversight. If a resident performed a procedure without adequate supervision, or if the level of supervision provided fell below what the situation required, both the resident and the attending surgeon may face liability. The hospital’s credentialing and supervision policies are also relevant.
Most surgical malpractice cases in Oklahoma take a year or longer to reach resolution, depending on the complexity of the medical issues, the number of defendants, and whether the case proceeds to trial. Cases involving permanent or catastrophic injury typically require more time to fully document damages and build the medical record needed for litigation.
You were unconscious. You did not see what occurred. What you have is a result that does not match what you were told to expect, and a surgical team that may not be providing complete answers.
Graves McLain Injury Lawyers represents Tulsa seriously injured patients in surgical malpractice cases throughout Tulsa and across Oklahoma. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing for representation unless we secure financial recovery on your behalf.
Call (918) 359-6600 or contact us to speak with an attorney about what happened and what your options are.
Chad McLain, Medical Malpractice Attorney
