San Francisco, CA medical malpractice attorney Jeff Mitchell tells the story of a memorable anesthesia injury case you handled. He recalls handling an anesthesia malpractice case many years ago involving a patient undergoing a procedure on his larynx. The patient, a long-time smoker, had developed scar tissue in his airway, which required doctors to use a laser through an endotracheal tube to remove the obstruction.

In this case, the anesthesiologist administered 100% oxygen during the procedure, a practice known to be highly dangerous. The accepted standard is to use no more than 40% oxygen, as there is a well-established principle that fires feed on oxygen. The combination of high oxygen levels and the laser resulted in a catastrophic fire in the patient’s airway. The explosion caused severe burns to his lungs. Though the patient survived for a year, he ultimately succumbed to an overwhelming infection because his damaged lungs and destroyed cilia left him unable to clear mucus and breathe effectively.

This was a tragic example of an intraoperative fire caused by anesthesia malpractice. The case also involved a substantial government lien, but the family was ultimately compensated. For him, it remains a devastating reminder of how preventable errors in medical practice can lead to profound consequences.