San Francisco, CA medical malpractice attorney Jeff Mitchell tells the story of a memorable anesthesia injury case you handled. Many years ago, the attorney had a case involving anesthesia malpractice. The patient in question was undergoing a procedure on his larynx, and due to his history of smoking, scar tissue had developed in his airway. To address this, a laser was used through an endotracheal tube to remove the scar tissue.

In such procedures, anesthesiologists typically use a mixture of up to 40 percent oxygen along with rare gases to minimize fire risk. However, in this particular case, the anesthesiologist inadvertently used 100 percent oxygen while employing a tool with flame-like properties, resulting in a fire and explosion within the patient’s airway and lungs.

The patient suffered extensive lung damage, which severely impacted his ability to clear mucus, ultimately leading to an overwhelming infection. Despite surviving for a year following the incident, he eventually succumbed to the infection due to the destruction of his lung tissue and cilia.

This case constituted an intraoperative fire incident caused by anesthesia malpractice, resulting in significant harm. The family of the patient had to contend with a substantial government lien, but ultimately, the case was resolved favorably for them. Nevertheless, the incident was a tragic and avoidable consequence of malpractice.