Neurosurgery Malpractice Claims

Neurosurgeons are specialized physicians who practice in neurology and diagnose and perform surgical procedures involving the central and peripheral nervous system. Neurology includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, and many other medical professionals who treat neurological disorders. While neurologists and neurosurgeons work within the same specialty, a neurologist diagnoses and treats conditions non-invasively, whereas neurosurgeons specialize in invasive treatment.

The nervous system is a complex network of threadlike nerves that carry messages between the brain and spinal cord throughout the body, including the sensory organs, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Neurosurgeons perform surgical procedures to repair or correct the nervous system.

The medical malpractice lawyers at our law firm are very familiar with medical negligence lawsuits and claims involving neurosurgeons. We have successfully sued neurosurgeons for medical malpractice in many cases. Neurosurgery lawsuits are always very complex and generally involve some type of surgical error claim. This page covers what neurosurgeons do, why they get sued for medical malpractice, and the average value of neurosurgery malpractice claims.

Neurosurgeons Education

Like any other doctor, neurosurgeons first must earn a medical degree, which generally takes four years after a four-year college degree. After graduating from medical school, neurosurgeons must complete a 5-7 year neurosurgery residency program. After completing residency, neurosurgeons can, but are not required to, complete a fellowship to further specialize in a particular subset of neurosurgery. After residency and optional fellowships, neurosurgeons must continue their education by attending annual meetings and conferences, conducting research, and keeping up with advances in the specialty.

What do Neurosurgeons do?

Neurosurgery primarily involves diagnosing and surgically treating conditions, illnesses, and injuries affecting the nervous system and its supporting structures. This may include, among others, conditions of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, skull, spinal bones, spinal disks, and supporting blood vessels, ligaments, and protective coverings of the nervous tissue.

Neurosurgeons work alongside neurologists and other medical professionals in providing patients with comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care for complex disorders of the nervous system. Neurosurgeons provide intervention both surgically and non-surgically, depending upon the specific condition or injury. Neurosurgeons treat conditions and problems that may be congenital (resulting from abnormal birth development), degenerative (from aging), traumatic (from injury), infectious, neoplastic (from a tumor), or other medical conditions and diseases. Specific issues of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, skull, or spine may include tumors, spinal problems, peripheral nerve injuries, neurovascular disorders, brain disorders, infections, and traumatic injuries.

Any type of surgical procedure involving the brain, spine, and nerves is going to be handled by a neurosurgeon. Some of the most common health conditions or disorders that can require neurosurgery include:

• Back Surgery: neurosurgeons perform back and spinal surgery to treat injuries and other conditions such as herniated discs, osteoarthritis, and spinal cord disorders.
• Brain Bleeds: neurosurgery is often used to treat or prevent strokes or other brain bleeds (cerebral aneurysms).
• Seizures: movement disorders such as epilepsy or other types of seizures involve the nervous system and are often treated by neurosurgeons.
• Other Neurologic Disorders: neurosurgeons are involved in the surgical treatment of many other neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

Malpractice Claims Against Neurosurgeons

Neurosurgery is a fairly small field, so it does not generate as many medical malpractice lawsuits as other fields like obstetrics or general surgery. However, neurosurgeons face the highest malpractice risk level of any type of doctor.

A few years ago, the American Medical Association published the results of a comprehensive study on malpractice rates among physician specialties. The AMA study analyzed almost 300,000 paid medical malpractice claims. The malpractice risk level of various specialties was measured by the number of paid malpractice claims per 1,000 doctors in that field. Neurosurgery ranked #1 for malpractice risk level based on this metric, with 53 paid malpractice claims per 1,000 neurosurgeons. The average payout, settlement or verdict, for malpractice claims against neurosurgeons is approximately $250,000.

The malpractice insurance costs for neurosurgeons are accordingly quite high. Some neurosurgeons pay north of $150,000 a year for malpractice insurance. Below are examples of malpractice claims against neurosurgeons in Maryland, with links to the plaintiffs’ stories of what happened in their cases.

Not surprisingly, most medical malpractice claims against neurosurgeons involve some type of surgical error or negligence related to a surgical procedure. Surgical error probably accounts for about 75% of all neurosurgery cases. Neurosurgeons also diagnose neurologic conditions and develop treatment plans, so they occasionally get sued for misdiagnosis.

Neurosurgeon Verdicts and Settlements

Summarized below are recent verdicts and reported settlements from medical malpractice cases involving neurosurgeons. These case descriptions are provided for informational purposes only.

• Tatka v. Benitez (New Jersey) $3 million: Middle-aged male plaintiff seeks treatment for headaches. He has an MRI that shows multiple brain lesions and a CT scan that is suspicious for lung cancer. A second CT scan and biopsy rule out lung cancer, and he is transferred to a neurosurgeon for a brain biopsy. The defendant neurosurgeon is informed that, despite initial suspicion, the plaintiff’s lungs are clear, but he incorrectly maintains in his records that the plaintiff has lung cancer that is presumed to have spread to his brain. Due to this misunderstanding, defendant fails to perform the brain biopsy until 9 days later, when it is discovered that the plaintiff does not have brain cancer, but rather an infection in the brain. During the delay plaintiff suffers brain herniation causi
  ng permanent and severe brain damage. Had the brain been biopsied sooner, his infection could have easily been resolved with drainage and antibiotic treatment. He sues the neurosurgeon alleging negligent delay in diagnosis of the brain infection. Case settled for $3 million.
• Plaintiff v. Pediatric Neurologist (New York) $7.6 million: An infant is referred to hospital for suspected Bell’s palsy and an MRI is performed. The results are read by a neuroradiologist who misdiagnoses her with Bell’s palsy and fails to recognize a structural lesion in her brain. Defendant pediatric neurosurgeon fails to even review the results, where they could have recognized the lesion. As a result, a tumor is not diagnosed in her brain for over a year in which time it triples in size and leaves her with left-sided facial palsy and partial hearing loss. Plaintiff sues the radiologist for misreading the images and sues the neurosurgeon for failing to review the results and timely diagnose the tumor. The case went to trial, where a jury returned a verdict for $7,605,700.
• Paraplegic v. Neurosurgeon (Massachusetts) $1 million: An 85-year-old male plaintiff has a tumor on his spinal cord that he has had since birth. Throughout his life, the tumor remained benign and is monitored rather than removed. In 2012, he began to suffer from neurological deficits and came under the care of the defendant neurosurgeon. Rather than remove the tumor, the neurosurgeon decided to treat him with steroid injections despite his worsening condition and failed to assess whether surgery would be in his best interest. The steroids initially seem to work, but then he loses the ability to move his legs. At this point, the neurosurgeon decides to perform surgery on the tumor, but it is too late. Plaintiff is left with irreversible paraplegia as well as bladder dysfunction and neurological damage. He sues the defendant neurosurgeon, alleging negligence in failing to perform surgery instead of treating him via steroid injections. The case eventually settles for $1 million.
• Daley v. Thomas (Washington) $1,219,052: A 42-year-old woman suffers from scoliosis that she has had since she was a teenager. In 2011, her back pain became unbearable, so the defendant neurosurgeon performed a procedure on her to reduce the pain and improve her condition. The surgery did provide pain relief, but a mistake was made during the procedure that resulted in her suffering from a severe forward and left lean. The forward and left lean is ultimately corrected, but requires the aid of several spine surgeons and procedures over the course of the next three years. She sues the neurosurgeon for surgical error. The defendant refuses to settle, and the case goes to trial where the jury returns a verdict for the plaintiff for $1,219,052.

Other Neurosurgery Malpractice Resources

• Neurological Injury Malpractice Claims: When neurosurgeons are negligent, it usually results in some type of neurologic injury to the patient. Learn about common types of neurologic injury malpractice claims and their average settlement value.

Contact Miller & Zois about Neurosurgeon Malpractice

If you have a potential medical malpractice claim against a neurosurgeon, Miller & Zois can help. Call us today at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.