On December 18, 1995, during an operation to have her ovaries removed, Smith woke up in the operating room to a bright light shining in her face. Due to the breathing tube down her throat and an immobilizing drug, Smith was unable to inform her doctors about the horrible pain she was feeling.

Smith explained that she could feel every cut and stitch of the 45-minute operation. "It was like a bomb was put inside of you and exploded,'' Smith said. "Nothing could describe the pain. It's something I will never get over. It does something to you. I won't ever be completely together again.''

Apparently, during Smith's surgery, Isoforane, an anesthetic commonly used to keep patients asleep, ran out without the doctor's knowledge.

Associate professor of anesthesiology at Duke University Medical School Peter Glass estimates that as many as 100 malpractice suits similar to Smith's are tried each year in the U.S., which is a small number compared to the millions of surgeries performed. "Anesthesia until now has been an art, not an exact science, "he said. "It can be very difficult. Anesthesiologists do a good job, but no one's perfect."