Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation
Objective. Medicolegal examination of an intervention as common as endotracheal intubation may be valuable to physicians in many specialties. Our objectives were to comprehensively detail the factors raised in litigation to better educate physicians on strategies for minimizing liability and augment...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Anesthesiology Research and Practice |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8209644 |
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| author | Jean Daniel Eloy Anna A. Pashkova Molly Amin Christy Anthony Daisy Munoz Yuriy Gubenko Shivani Patel Anna Korban Andrea Perales Peter F. Svider Jean Anderson Eloy |
| author_facet | Jean Daniel Eloy Anna A. Pashkova Molly Amin Christy Anthony Daisy Munoz Yuriy Gubenko Shivani Patel Anna Korban Andrea Perales Peter F. Svider Jean Anderson Eloy |
| author_sort | Jean Daniel Eloy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective. Medicolegal examination of an intervention as common as endotracheal intubation may be valuable to physicians in many specialties. Our objectives were to comprehensively detail the factors raised in litigation to better educate physicians on strategies for minimizing liability and augmenting patient safety. Methods. Publicly available court records were searched for pertinent litigation. Ultimately, 214 jury verdict and settlement reports were examined for various factors, including outcome, award, geographic location, defendant specialty, setting in which an injury occurred, patient demographics, and other causes of malpractice. Results. Ninety-two cases (43.0%) were resolved in the defendant’s favor, with the remaining cases resulting in out-of-court settlement or a plaintiff’s verdict. Payments from these cases were considerable, averaging $2.5 M. The most frequent physician defendants were anesthesiologists (59.8%) and emergency-physicians (19.2%), although other specialties were well represented. The most common setting of injury was the operating room (45.3%). Common factors included sustaining permanent deficits (89.2%), death (50.5%), and anoxic brain injury (37.4%). Injuries occurring in labor and delivery mostly involved newborns and had among the highest awards. Conclusions. Litigation involves injuries sustained in numerous settings. The most common factors present included sustaining permanent deficits, including anoxic brain injury. The presence of this latter injury increased the likelihood of a case being resolved with payment. Finally, deficits in informed consent were noted in numerous cases, stressing the importance of a clear process in which the physician explains specific risks (such as those detailed in this analysis), benefits, and alternatives. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-21244ed02bf1466f9c8f425f82669fca |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1687-6970 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anesthesiology Research and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-21244ed02bf1466f9c8f425f82669fca2025-02-03T06:12:26ZengWileyAnesthesiology Research and Practice1687-69702022-01-01202210.1155/2022/8209644Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation LitigationJean Daniel Eloy0Anna A. Pashkova1Molly Amin2Christy Anthony3Daisy Munoz4Yuriy Gubenko5Shivani Patel6Anna Korban7Andrea Perales8Peter F. Svider9Jean Anderson Eloy10Department of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of AnesthesiologyDepartment of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck SurgeryDepartment of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck SurgeryObjective. Medicolegal examination of an intervention as common as endotracheal intubation may be valuable to physicians in many specialties. Our objectives were to comprehensively detail the factors raised in litigation to better educate physicians on strategies for minimizing liability and augmenting patient safety. Methods. Publicly available court records were searched for pertinent litigation. Ultimately, 214 jury verdict and settlement reports were examined for various factors, including outcome, award, geographic location, defendant specialty, setting in which an injury occurred, patient demographics, and other causes of malpractice. Results. Ninety-two cases (43.0%) were resolved in the defendant’s favor, with the remaining cases resulting in out-of-court settlement or a plaintiff’s verdict. Payments from these cases were considerable, averaging $2.5 M. The most frequent physician defendants were anesthesiologists (59.8%) and emergency-physicians (19.2%), although other specialties were well represented. The most common setting of injury was the operating room (45.3%). Common factors included sustaining permanent deficits (89.2%), death (50.5%), and anoxic brain injury (37.4%). Injuries occurring in labor and delivery mostly involved newborns and had among the highest awards. Conclusions. Litigation involves injuries sustained in numerous settings. The most common factors present included sustaining permanent deficits, including anoxic brain injury. The presence of this latter injury increased the likelihood of a case being resolved with payment. Finally, deficits in informed consent were noted in numerous cases, stressing the importance of a clear process in which the physician explains specific risks (such as those detailed in this analysis), benefits, and alternatives.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8209644 |
| spellingShingle | Jean Daniel Eloy Anna A. Pashkova Molly Amin Christy Anthony Daisy Munoz Yuriy Gubenko Shivani Patel Anna Korban Andrea Perales Peter F. Svider Jean Anderson Eloy Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation Anesthesiology Research and Practice |
| title | Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation |
| title_full | Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation |
| title_fullStr | Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation |
| title_short | Protecting the Airway and the Physician: Lessons from 214 Cases of Endotracheal Intubation Litigation |
| title_sort | protecting the airway and the physician lessons from 214 cases of endotracheal intubation litigation |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8209644 |
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