The mother of a 13-year-old girl got some tragic news after her daughter had undergone a routine procedure to have her tonsils removed. The operation was supposed to help the girl (who suffered from sleep apnea) sleep better, control weight gain and have more energy.
Immediately after the procedure, the girl appeared to recovering well but just a short time later, the girl’s oxygen levels dropped dramatically and she went into cardiac arrest. Hospital staff tried to revive her, but a CT scan eventually revealed that the little girl’s brain had swollen significantly. She was pronounced brain dead and now her family is faced with the heart-breaking choice of whether to remove her from life support or not.
Routine operations are typically expected to go smoothly. We know that complications can arise, but we typically do not expect that a tonsillectomy can end up causing a catastrophic brain injury. In any situation involving this type of severe complication, it can be crucial for families in and around New Jersey to figure out what happened during an operation to have resulted in such a devastating condition. Hospitals and doctors are not always forthcoming with this information and may even try to deny fault for mistakes that were made.
It is for these reasons that many people in this difficult situation speak with an attorney who can help them pursue a medical malpractice or negligence claim. Taking legal action can help families get some much-needed closure in a situation which has left them feeling helpless and confused. It can also help victims and their families collect compensation for the damages that have been suffered as a result of a serious medical or surgical error.Â
Source:Â CNN, “Family wants to keep life support for girl brain dead after tonsil surgery,” Tom Watkins and Mayra Cuevas, Dec. 18, 2013
