Surgery can be a frightening prospect. For one Mississippi man, surgery turned into a nightmare when he woke up during cataract surgery and eventually lost the vision in his right eye. The man also claims to have been injured by medical personnel who held him down while they continued the procedure. The man is now suing Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, as well as several other parties involved in the procedure.
Waking up during surgery is not as rare as many might think. A 2008 study conducted by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, found that nearly 30,000 Americans wake up during a surgical procedure every year. That translates into one or two patients per every 1,000 who are operated upon.
Every situation is unique and many of those who wake up suffer nothing worse than vague or fleeting memories of things that occurred during their surgery. Others recall the surgery in vivid, and horrifying, detail, reporting intense pain, terror, and the feeling of being paralyzed while they are functionally tortured. It is not unheard of to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after suffering such an ordeal.
The Mississippi man is seeking damages in his medical malpractice lawsuit to compensate him for his pain and suffering, medical costs, mental anguish, disability, and loss of earning capacity. The surgery provided him no relief and put him through something that no one should be asked to endure.
Source: Opposing Views, “Man Sues Over Loss Of Vision And Alleged Torture After Waking Up During Cataract Surgery,” by Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht, 26 February 2013
