Every year, millions of people die or are injured because of negligent doctors. In fact, medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.
Sadly, many people who suffer loss and harm never know that negligence has occurred. The assumption is that whatever leads the patient to see the doctor was what caused the injury, illness, or death.
That is not always the case, though. There are times when the injury, illness, or death could have been avoided if the proper procedures had been followed.
Types of Medical Malpractice
Some people think that medical malpractice means a patient died. That’s simply not true. There are several types of malpractice; they’re based on what exactly went wrong. For example:
• Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesiologists have to be extremely careful when administering anesthesia. If the doctor does not properly monitor a patient’s vitals and breathing, severe brain damage, nerve damage, or death can occur.
• Birth Complications
Problems during delivery can be life threatening. Injury or death can be caused by things like the failure to proceed with C-sections, the misuse of forceps, or the failure to respond to distress. If the baby’s brain doesn’t get enough oxygen during delivery, brain damage can occur.
• Diagnosis Failures
The failure or delay in diagnosing an illness or condition can result in the patient getting the wrong treatment or no treatment at all. If a patient is suffering a heart attack but is diagnosed with indigestion, he’ll end up with more damage to his heart and possible brain damage. He may even die.
• Emergency Room Errors
Patients in emergency rooms are often literally in life or death situations. Doctors and nurses must be able and willing to handle the stress and pace of these high-stakes, high-pressure settings.
• Medication Errors
The wrong medication, the wrong dose, a dangerous interaction —these kinds of medication errors lead to thousands of deaths every year. Even when death does not occur, patients may suffer from severe, life-altering side effects.
• Nursing Errors
Nurses provide most of the direct care to patients in and out of hospitals. They are just as responsible for their decisions and actions as doctors.
• Surgical Errors
Surgery may be when a patient is at his or her most vulnerable. Errors like foreign objects being left in the body, the wrong area being operated on, and the use of contaminated instruments should never happen.
Is it really my doctor’s fault? I’m not the kind of person who sues.
Just because something goes wrong during medical treatment doesn’t mean that the doctor was negligent. However, if something does go wrong, it’s worth looking into the possibility of negligence. After all, it’s better for everyone —the patient, the doctor, the hospital, and the community— to know what happened and why. Sometimes it’s the only way that bigger problems come to light.
Doctors and other medical professional are responsible for the care they give, and they have to meet certain standards of care. If they fail to meet those standards and that failure causes injury, illness, or death, then they have been negligent. Even if they didn’t mean to cause harm.
This is the reason why medical professionals and hospitals buy insurance —to cover them for negligence.
Medical malpractice insurance is like auto insurance. If you win your case, it probably won’t be the person who caused the harm who pays the money. It will be the insurance company (that’s been collecting premiums).
Putting together a malpractice claim or case is difficult and technical. If you’ve been hurt, talking to an experienced medical malpractice attorney should be the first step in evaluating your case.
Medical malpractice cases do more than help the victims and their families, though. A lawsuit may be the only way to make the negligent person and/or the insurance company step up and do the right thing. Not only does this help the person who is bringing the lawsuit, it also ensures that others in the community will not fall victim to the same medical malpractice.
An Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Make All the Difference
If you’ve been injured by medical malpractice, contact us. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours (1 business day) and either –
1) Connect you directly to an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
OR
2) Give you the name of someone in your area that can help.