A California man was recently awarded $2.25 million after he suffered a brain injury during eye surgery because of an anesthesia error.

According to the lawsuit, the man was undergoing a routine eye surgery at the Mazzocco Ambulatory Surgical Center when the anesthesiologist left the man unattended, and he stopped breathing. The man suffered an anoxic brain injury because of the lack of oxygen to his brain. An anoxic brain-injury can have permanent effects such as cognitive damage and physical disabilities.

The man filed a lawsuit against the anesthesiologist and the surgical center, citing them for negligence during the surgery. The man settled with the anesthesiologist out of court, while a jury found the surgical center to be guilty of using negligent practices during the man’s surgery.

If you or someone you love has been injured because of an anesthesia-related error during surgery, please contact the New Jersey anesthesia error lawyers of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., at 800-346-5529.

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering overturning the ban that has been placed on medical malpractice lawsuits in the military since a 1950 court decision equalized medical mistakes with combat injuries. Known as Feres Doctrine, it has long been criticized by people who say it is unfair for the men and women fighting for our rights.

The Supreme Court has been reconsidering the doctrine after the widow of a soldier who died after an appendectomy filed a petition for certiorari so that she could file a medical malpractice lawsuit. In 2003, the man, who was on leave from the military, underwent a routine appendectomy. The nurse mistakenly placed a breathing tube in the man’s esophagus rather than than his trachea, and the man suffered severe brain damage because his brain did not receive oxygen for at least seven minutes. He was on life support for several months before his family decided to withdraw it.

The widow of the man was denied compensation from several courts based on Feres Doctrine. Now, the woman and her legal team are pleading with the Supreme Court to overturn the doctrine.

If someone you love has died or suffered permanent damage because of a lack of oxygen during surgery, please contact the New Jersey anesthesia error lawyers of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., at 800-346-5529.