Anesthesia error claims in Georgia medical malpractice

An anesthesia claim is a malpractice claim about choosing, giving, or monitoring anesthesia, and its proof can rest on a time-stamped record. The distinctive legal questions are who may give an expert opinion, because physicians and nurse anesthetists do not stand on equal footing under O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702, and who was responsible for the patient at each moment. A serious outcome is not proof of error, because anesthesia carries recognized risks. The evidence has to show what a provider did wrong and when.

Who did what

Anesthesia can be given by a physician anesthesiologist, by a certified registered nurse anesthetist, or by a team. The arrangement matters in two ways.

Provider	Standard addressed by	Liability may extend to
Physician anesthesiologist	Physician in the same area, three of five years	Their group or employer
Nurse anesthetist	Nurse anesthetist, or a physician who supervised, taught, or instructed them for three of five years, § 24-7-702(c)(2)(D)	Their employer and possibly a supervising physician
Surgeon, on an anesthesia question	Depends on the facts	Depends on the facts

A nurse anesthetist “shall not be competent to testify as to the standard of care of a physician” under (D). So a case against both an anesthesiologist and a nurse anesthetist may need more than one witness. Multiple expert affidavits explains the planning.

Whether a physician is responsible for what a nurse anesthetist did depends on actual supervision and on who employed whom. Hospital and group arrangements vary, and a hospital may use a contract group, bringing in the independent contractor statute.

The record

The anesthesia record is the core document. It can show monitored values over time, drugs and doses, airway events, and notes. A record may be fed automatically from monitors, or be partly handwritten. A request should cover:

• the anesthesia record and any electronic history;
• the pre-anesthesia evaluation;
• the post-anesthesia care unit notes;
• the surgeon’s operative report and nursing notes for the same period; and
• any device data or logs that are available.

An expert compares what the monitors showed with what was done and when. A gap between an alarm and a response is what a case is built on. An entry made later, or a record that disagrees with another, is what a deposition explores. An alarm setting or a data interval can also matter, so the expert should see how often the device recorded.

Areas that claims concern

• Airway problems, including a tube in the wrong place or a failure to secure the airway.
• Oxygen levels and ventilation during the case or after extubation.
• Drug choice and dosing, including allergies in the chart.
• Blood pressure management.
• Positioning injuries during long cases.
• Nerve injury in regional anesthesia.
• Recovery room monitoring.

This list describes the kinds of complaint, not what the standard required in any case. Medical statements about how fast brain injury occurs or what a monitor reading means should come from the expert, and not from a general article.

Consent

Under O.C.G.A. § 31-9-6.1(a), the consent statute applies to “any surgical procedure under general anesthesia, spinal anesthesia, or major regional anesthesia”, and it lists “brain damage, cardiac arrest” among the risks in its disclosure list. Section (e) lists exceptions, including an emergency. A failure to comply can give rise to a malpractice action but is not a separate cause of action, under (d).

Emergency surgery

An operation right after emergency department evaluation can fall under § 51-1-29.5(c), which reaches “a surgical suite immediately following the evaluation or treatment of a patient in a hospital emergency department”. Clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence would be required, subject to the statute’s definition. See emergency room malpractice claims.

Causation

A person who wakes with a brain injury or nerve damage needs an expert to connect it to a specific event, in terms stronger than a possibility under Zwiren v. Thompson. In Johnson v. Riverdale Anesthesia Associates, the Supreme Court considered a claim that a failure to pre-oxygenate contributed to a death, and it held that an expert could not be cross-examined about how he personally would have treated the patient, because the standard is what the profession ordinarily employs. That case is an anesthesia example of how the trial focus stays on the standard.

Deadlines for an anesthesia claim

The two-year and five-year periods in § 9-3-71 apply, and the injury may be the same day as the procedure. A child’s case follows § 9-3-73. See limitation and repose. Records take time to obtain, so the request should come early. Errors by the operating team are covered in surgical error claims.

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 9-3-71, 9-3-73, 24-7-702, 31-9-6.1, 51-1-29.5
• Johnson v. Riverdale Anesthesia Associates, 275 Ga. 240
• Zwiren v. Thompson, 276 Ga. 498

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.