Doctors, hospitals, and healthcare personnel must always provide the required standard of care for patients. Medical malpractice happens when healthcare professionals neglect the standard treatment, provide substandard treatment that leads to injury, harm, or patient death, or fail to take appropriate actions in treating a patient. Below is a list of the most common medical malpractice claims.
Medication Errors
Most people need medication and pain management to recover from an injury or illness. Healthcare professionals issue prescriptions to patients routinely for steroids, painkillers, antibiotics, and more. These prescriptions should be filled appropriately to minimize the possibility of a medication error. Medical malpractice claims occur when healthcare professionals issue patients with the following:
- Medications that patients are allergic to
- The wrong medication
- The correct medication in the wrong vigor
- Medications that interact poorly with any other medication a patient takes
There are severe health effects associated with the wrong medication. Therefore, seeking medical treatment is crucial if you take the wrong medication.
Birth Injury
Delivery and labor rooms are hectic at times. Healthcare professionals must be attentive regarding the risks in certain deliveries and respond accordingly in case of complications. Medical errors during childbirth severely harm the infant and may require months or years of routine care. The hospital delivery team or an obstetrician may be liable for such injuries if they fail to follow the standard procedure during childbirth. Families and children require assistance to recover emotionally, physically, and financially with the help of counselors and good personal injury lawyers when dealing with the aftermath of such injuries.
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis is the primary type of medical malpractice claim. Healthcare professionals may misdiagnose a condition if they mislead one illness to the other. Misdiagnosis by doctors leads to expensive and unnecessary treatments that don’t help, aside from delays in starting the correct medical treatment. Doctors may sometimes fail to diagnose a severe medical condition that worsens the patient’s condition. Some doctors, though, on rare occasions, may fail to diagnose certain cancers, especially those with minimal symptoms and those developing slowly. Hire a seasoned attorney with tons of experience regarding defective products and medical malpractice to understand your available options fully.
Surgical Errors
Surgery has numerous risks, and an unsuccessful operation isn’t necessarily malpractice. A patient can, however, file a medical malpractice claim if the surgeon fails to follow the standard of care during the surgery. Establishing that may be complicated and requires the expertise of a reliable malpractice lawyer. When a wrong body part gets operated on, or equipment is left in the body cavity, severe harm forms the basis of a medical malpractice claim.
Informed Consent
Suppose a patient fails to give informed consent regarding the medical procedure. In that case, the healthcare provider or the doctor becomes liable if the operation leads to injury or harm, even if the whole process gets carried out perfectly. The duty of informed consent requires doctors to warn patients of potential outcomes and known risks of a treatment or procedure. If the surgeon fails to inform the patient regarding the possible risk of an operation and the procedure goes south, the healthcare provider becomes liable even if the operation gets completed perfectly.
Delayed Diagnosis
Healthcare providers should order correct diagnostic tests for the patients at all times. Such tests are often based on the symptoms a patient shows to facilitate a timely diagnosis of the conditions they may be having. When a doctor fails to order appropriate diagnostic tests and subsequently fails to communicate the test outcomes, and the patient gets harmed, the doctor becomes liable for the mistake.
Anesthesia Errors
There are instances where a patient receives an incorrect dosage or the wrong type of medication. Healthcare professionals who commit such mistakes, from the prescription to the administration chain are liable for such malpractice. The same liability goes for anesthesia administration before an operation.
Hiring a medical malpractice attorney is essential for fair compensation following medical malpractice. A seasoned medical malpractice lawyer relies on a network of medical consultants and expert witnesses to establish a solid case for clients.
