Anesthesia is supposed to shield you from pain, protect your memory of trauma, and allow your medical team to do their job without risk to you. When properly administered, it is one of medicine’s greatest modern marvels. But when it’s mishandled—even for a moment—the consequences can be catastrophic. Loss of oxygen. Brain damage. Death. And often, no one explains what really happened.
At Van Wey & Metzler, we represent patients and families in Oklahoma City who have suffered devastating injuries due to anesthesia malpractice. These aren’t just “bad outcomes.” They are avoidable tragedies that demand answers—and accountability.
For most patients, going under anesthesia feels like the “easy” part. You close your eyes, you wake up, and you’re told the procedure went as planned. But anesthesia errors are one of the most underreported and misunderstood forms of medical negligence, and they occur more often than the public is led to believe.
Modern anesthetics are incredibly powerful. The margin for error is razor-thin. When something goes wrong—too much, too little, delayed reaction, improper monitoring—the brain and other organs begin to suffer almost immediately. And the patient has no idea until they wake up—if they wake up at all.
These errors are particularly dangerous because they occur when patients are completely vulnerable, unable to speak up or advocate for themselves. It is the responsibility of the medical team to stay vigilant. And when they don’t, lives are permanently changed.
We’ve investigated cases involving anesthesia errors during everything from dental surgeries to C-sections to spinal procedures. The most frequent errors include:
Using the wrong medication, or too high a dose of the right one, can depress breathing, heart function, or cause fatal reactions—especially in elderly or pediatric patients.
An anesthesiologist’s most critical responsibility is continuous monitoring. A missed drop in oxygen or blood pressure can lead to anoxic brain injury within minutes.
Intubating the esophagus instead of the airway, or failing to secure the airway altogether, can cut off oxygen and result in permanent damage or death.
When a patient reacts badly to anesthesia—whether through allergic reaction, cardiac arrest, or oxygen deprivation—every second counts. Many hospitals aren’t prepared, and response protocols fail.
Anesthesia isn’t “one size fits all.” Failing to check for allergies, medication interactions, or pre-existing conditions can lead to completely preventable complications.
The effects of anesthesia errors range from terrifying short-term complications to permanent, irreversible harm. We represent clients who have suffered:
In some cases, patients survive—but they are no longer themselves. Families are left trying to pick up the pieces—wondering what happened behind those closed operating room doors, and why no one will tell the truth.
That’s where we come in.
We are not a general personal injury firm. We focus exclusively on catastrophic medical malpractice—cases where the negligence was profound, the consequences permanent, and the need for justice urgent.
Our process is different:
We’ve built our reputation on cases that others said were too complex or too difficult to win. And we’ve done it by caring more, digging deeper, and refusing to accept excuses from powerful institutions.
Many hospitals try to downplay anesthesia errors as “known risks” or “unexpected complications.” We reject that framing.
When your brain has been damaged… when your loved one never woke up… when you trusted them to get it right and they didn’t—that’s not a complication. That’s negligence.
A lawsuit won’t reverse the injury. But it can:
We’ve seen it happen. We’ve made it happen.
Medical malpractice litigation is not just what we do—it’s all we do. Families come to us because:
Founder Kay Van Wey has been recognized nationally for her patient advocacy work, including her role in holding dangerous physicians accountable in the infamous “Dr. Death” case. Her work has helped transform how hospitals and licensing boards respond to medical misconduct.
You don’t need all the facts to make the first call. If you—or someone you love—suffered brain damage, a coma, unexplained death, or strange complications following surgery, you deserve to know what really happened.
We’ll investigate. We’ll explain your options. And if we take your case, you pay nothing unless we win.
