On June 21, 2023, a Virginia medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in the amount of $2.5 million in favor of a woman who alleged that she was not provided adequate anesthesia during her Cesarean section delivery.
The Virginia medical malpractice lawsuit alleged that she was in the hospital and in labor with her first child when the baby’s heartbeat precipitously dropped, leading to her OB determining that an emergency Cesarean section delivery was required. The lawsuit alleged that the only anesthesiologist at the hospital did not arrive on time for the emergency C-section despite multiple calls. By the time the anesthesiologist arrived for the emergency procedure, the C-section had begun and adequate anesthesia was not achieved until the time the baby’s was delivered.
The jury awarded the plaintiff $2.5 million in damages.
A study published in 2013 stated:
Awareness and recall, though not common, are the major hazards of general anesthesia, especially in Cesarean section (C/S) because of the absence of benzodiazepine and opioids for a significant time during anesthesia.
Adequate anesthesia to prevent pain, awareness, and recall is the major role of the anesthesiologist. This is achieved by a balanced administration of analgesic, hypnotic, and amnesic drugs. Some different methods are used to evaluate the depth of anesthesia during different types of surgeries; these include spontaneous surface electromyogram (SEMG), lower esophageal contractility (LOC), heart rate variability (HRV), and electroencephalogram and its derived indices.
Cesarean section (C/S) renders parturient patients at risk of inadequate anesthesia because of rapid sequence induction, avoidance of opioids and Benzodiazepine until the delivery of the newborn, and limited volatile concentration. In a study in 2004, the risk of inadequate depth of anesthesia in C/S with Sevoflurane was 20- 45%. Therefore, the light plane of general anesthesia for the fetal safety during C/S may give rise to post-traumatic stress disorder. It is clear that the prevention of inadequate depth of anesthesia is a very important goal and as such merits further research.
A medical article from 2018 stated:
Neuraxial anaesthesia is the commonest, safest, and most logical choice of anaesthesia for caesarean section. Various options include spinal anaesthesia, epidural anaesthesia, or combined spinal epidural (CSE) anaesthesia. Of all these, single-shot spinal is the most widely practiced mode of anaesthesia in both elective as well as emergency situations. Although spinal anaesthesia is considered to be the most reliable form of anaesthesia, occasional failures are not unknown. It is essential to recognize that the failure of spinal anaesthesia during caesarean section has detrimental implications on the wellbeing of both the parturient and the neonate. Therefore, the failure must be viewed more critically in obstetric compared with nonobstetric settings.
If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of anesthesia malpractice in Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Virginia medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your anesthesia medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in an anesthesia medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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