When a person goes to a healthcare provider, they put their trust in that medical professional and their expertise. But sometimes, a medical professional fails to follow ethical codes and laws for providing care to the patient, which leads to medical malpractices. Medical malpractice can occur due to a negligent act or omission of an act by the health provider. In such a case, the law holds them accountable.
Medical malpractice can happen at any stage before, during, or after your treatment. In America, medical errors are the third leading cause of death, only behind cancer and heart diseases, according to an analysis. If you or someone you know has suffered from medical malpractice, you can claim financial compensation, and a good lawyer will help you win your case. You must know about common medical malpractices so that you know you can file a lawsuit in such cases. Here are five common medical malpractices that you can file a lawsuit against.
- Childbirth Injuries:
Childbirth is a very sensitive matter, and any little negligence from a medical professional can have serious implications. When a healthcare provider doesn’t provide appropriate care before, during, and after childbirth, it can lead to childbirth injuries. There are several causes of birth injuries like using excessive force to remove the baby from the birth canal, failing to recognize fetal distress, not performing a C-section when necessary, mishandling, shaking, or dropping the baby during or after birth, failing to report the mother about parental health conditions, etc. These acts of negligence can cause a child to incur birth injuries like Cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy, etc.
If your child has incurred a birth injury like Erb’s palsy, you can visit childbirthinjuries.com to get in touch and hire a good attorney to fight your case. Yet, aside from getting legal help, you will also find more information about your child’s condition here.
- Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis:
The most common medical malpractices are related to diagnosis: they can be misdiagnosed or delayed diagnoses. Misdiagnosis occurs when a healthcare provider fails to diagnose a patient correctly. It can lead to mistreatment and terrible consequences. When the patient is diagnosed with the wrong condition, the medication they will get based on that diagnosis will not only be ineffective but could also be harmful.
Similarly, sometimes doctors don’t figure out the correct diagnosis on time which causes a delay in receiving treatment which can be life-threatening in case of emergencies or chronic illnesses. In case of delayed diagnosis, the illness can get worse, which not only causes the patient excess pain and suffering but can also become expensive to treat in a later stage. No wonder the major part of medical malpractice lawsuits comprises diagnostic errors. Modern Healthcare reports that, according to a study, the largest source of medical malpractice claims from 2013 to 2017 was diagnosis-related errors.
- Surgical and Anesthesia Errors:
Any negligence during performing surgery can lead to surgical errors. When a person suffers from a surgical error at the hands of a healthcare provider, the negligence is obvious, and a person doesn’t even need testimony in most cases. There are tons of laws and regulations a surgeon has to follow while performing surgery because any minor error in surgery can cost the patient their life. In the medical profession, the term “never events” refers to things that should not happen in case of surgery. Common surgical negligent acts include leaving a surgical instrument or sponge inside the patient’s body, operating on the wrong body part, injuring another part of the patient’s body during the surgery, not properly treating infections or complications after the surgery, etc. According to a study, there are high chances of medical mistakes leading to serious consequences in ICUs, operating rooms, and emergency departments.
There are also chances of anesthesia errors. Anesthesia is a major part of surgical procedures. If the anesthesiologist is not careful, there can be irreversible damage. Any anesthesia mistake can cause brain injury or even death. If an anesthesiologist fails to review a patient’s records for possible risk factors correctly, doesn’t provide the patient with proper instructions before the surgery, gives the patient the wrong amount of anesthesia, fails to check the vital signs of the patient while administering anesthesia, etc. then it will certainly be a case of an anesthesia error. And in case of an anesthesia error, the surgery will also not be proper either. In case of surgical errors or anesthesia errors, you have the right to file a lawsuit. Sometimes the equipment used to monitor anesthesia can be faulty; in that case, you can file a claim against the equipment manufacturer.
- Failure to Prevent Infections:
When you are in a hospital or clinic setting, there are high chances of you getting an infection as there are other patients there too. But it’s the responsibility of the medical personnel to provide you protection and prevention from such infections. If the doctor uses the same syringe for different patients, uses unsterilized equipment on you, or doesn’t inform you about precautionary measures like wearing a mask, etc., they expose you to infections and illnesses.
Unsanitary conditions surrounding the patient in a hospital or a clinic can have harmful effects. This is a case of medical malpractice, as the healthcare professional is putting your health at risk. You can file a lawsuit if you can prove that any other responsible health provider would have taken steps to prevent the infections and maintained a clean hospital environment. Similarly, sometimes doctors fail to treat the infection properly, which is also negligence.
- Poor or No Treatment:
When doctors have a lot of patients to see, it’s common for them to ignore patients and give less time to each patient. This means doctors can discharge a patient too early even though they need extended treatment, or they don’t provide treatment to a patient at all. Most of the time, doctors fail to provide a proper follow-up or don’t recommend a good specialist to their patients. All these are a way of failing to provide treatment to the patients.
When a patient doesn’t get proper treatment, they will develop health complications, and their situation can get terrible to the point where it turns into something serious. If a person has received poor treatment, they can file a lawsuit against the provider.
Conclusion:
If a healthcare provider fails to perform their duties properly, that is a case of medical malpractice, leading to serious health complications in a patient. The patient can file a medical malpractice lawsuit in such a case. There are some common scenarios when a medical personnel’s negligence can harm a person’s life. If you have suffered from any of these five common medical malpractices, you are entitled to compensation, and you can file a lawsuit in these cases.
