Breathing tubes save lives every day. They are one of the most routine tools in any hospital. A tube goes into the patient's trachea, keeps the airway clear, and makes sure oxygen gets to the lungs. Thousands of these procedures happen across the country on any given morning without incident. But when one goes wrong, the results can be tragic
The brain needs a constant supply of oxygen. Cut that supply off for even a few minutes and cells start dying. That damage is often permanent. We have sat across from families who brought a loved one into a hospital for a scheduled procedure and ended up planning a funeral or arranging long-term care for someone who will never be the same. In almost every one of those cases, somebody on the medical team made a mistake that could have been caught.
If that sounds like your situation, you should talk to a Norfolk medical malpractice lawyer today. These cases have time limits, and the hospital is already building its defense.
How a Breathing Tube Ends Up Causing Brain Damage
Wrong Placement
The tube is supposed to go into the trachea. Sometimes it ends up in the esophagus instead. When that happens, the ventilator is pushing air into the stomach. The lungs get nothing. The patient's oxygen level drops and keeps dropping until somebody figures out what is going on.
There is a device called a capnograph that is supposed to prevent exactly this scenario. It measures carbon dioxide in exhaled breath. If the tube is in the esophagus, there is no CO2 reading because no air is reaching the lungs. The problem is straightforward to detect if anyone is actually looking at the monitor. When they are not, the patient suffocates on a ventilator. Research suggests that more than 250,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors every year, which would make these mistakes the third leading cause of death in the country behind heart disease and cancer.
International airway management guidelines now classify unrecognized esophageal intubation as a "never event," meaning it should never happen when proper protocols are followed.
The Tube Moves or Falls Out
Endotracheal tubes are held in place with tape, ties, or a commercial securing device. If whoever placed the tube did not secure it properly, it can shift during a patient transfer, when the patient is repositioned, or even when a nurse is changing the bedding. Sometimes the patient reaches up and pulls at it.
Once the tube is out of position, the airway is compromised. If the team catches it in time, the patient gets reintubated and things are fine. If they do not, the oxygen deprivation starts and every minute that passes makes it worse.
Cuff Pressure Problems
Near the tip of the tube there is a small balloon called a cuff. When inflated, it seals the trachea so air only goes to the lungs. The pressure in that cuff matters. Too low and air leaks. Too high and the cuff starts squeezing the tracheal wall.
Over time, excessive cuff pressure damages tissue. It can cause tracheal stenosis, which narrows the airway, or tracheomalacia, which weakens the tracheal wall so it collapses on itself. Both conditions restrict airflow and can reduce the oxygen supply to the brain over hours or days. This kind of injury is slower than esophageal intubation but no less devastating.
The Team Stops Paying Attention
The tube was placed correctly. Everything looked fine at first. But then nobody rechecked it. Cuff pressures drift. Tubes shift. Secretions build up and obstruct the airway. These are known risks for every intubated patient, and checking for them is standard practice. When the nursing staff and respiratory therapists stop monitoring, problems that would have taken 30 seconds to fix turn into catastrophic injuries. And then the hospital's lawyers will argue that the outcome was unavoidable, when the medical records show otherwise. That is why getting your own legal representation early matters so much in these cases.
When It Becomes Malpractice
Intubation is not always easy. In an emergency, with a patient who has a difficult airway or unusual anatomy, things can go sideways even when the provider does everything right. That is not malpractice.
Malpractice is when the provider falls below the standard of care. Did they fail to use a capnograph to confirm tube placement? Did they skip the step where you actually verify the tube is in the trachea? Did they leave an intubated patient unmonitored for hours? Did they ignore alarms? Those are the questions that matter.
In Virginia, you cannot file a medical malpractice lawsuit without first getting a certificate of merit from a qualified medical professional who has reviewed the records and concluded that the standard of care was not met. That is a legal requirement before the case can even proceed.
Once a case is established, the patient or their family may be able to recover damages for:
- Medical costs from emergency treatment, extended ICU stays, surgeries, and long-term rehabilitation
- Lost income during recovery or permanently if the patient can no longer work
- Pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life
- Wrongful death damages if the patient did not survive
Virginia does cap medical malpractice damages, and the cap amount changes periodically. A Norfolk medical malpractice lawyer who handles these cases regularly will know the current cap and how it applies.
Get Answers From a Firm That Handles These Cases
Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp has represented families dealing with the aftermath of hospital errors since 1985. OUR firm has recovered tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients harmed by medical negligence, and its attorneys take on cases involving surgical mistakes, missed diagnoses, and preventable hospital deaths throughout Virginia and North Carolina.
If a breathing tube error caused brain damage or killed someone in your family, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp. The firm obtained a $2.23 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case where a Norfolk hospital failed to diagnose sepsis in time after surgery. Call 833-997-1774 for a free consultation. The firm has offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.
