Friday, October 11, 2019

Understanding Different Types of Medical Malpractice


Medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and 10% of all deaths occur as a result of negligence. Medical malpractice involves an instance where, given competent and proper care, a consequential error could have been prevented. Contrary to popular belief, medical malpractice is more common than you might think: in fact, half of all doctors will deal with a medical malpractice lawsuit at least once in the duration of their career.

Many doctors make critical mistakes that are never taken to court, absolving them of responsibility. However, there are multiple types of medical malpractice, and the more you understand about these various categories, the smarter you’ll be when it comes to dealing with medical institutions.

Birth Injury Malpractice
There are many long-term issues that could be caused by medical malpractice during birth, including cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a brain injury that typically occurs during birth due to a lack of oxygen, and stunts muscle growth in the child.

This limited mobility will affect the child for the duration of their life. There are several reasons the doctor could be at fault here; perhaps they didn’t use birthing tools correctly, failed to detect the necessity of an emergency C-section, pulled too hard on the infant’s head during birth, or didn’t detect maternal infections.

According to The Lancione Law Firm, “Issues that result in cerebral palsy could have almost always been prevented with proper pre-birth and birthing care, and parents should never feel forced to accept life-changing mistakes and simple accidents they have to deal with.”

Misdiagnosis
A missed diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to recognize the correct illness. This is considered a medical malpractice because a more competent doctor could take a look at the same charts, lab results, and/or symptoms and come to an accurate conclusion. When a misdiagnosis occurs, a patient fails to receive the proper treatment, and the consequences could be life-changing, or even deadly. For instance, the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that cancer misdiagnosis occur as much as 28% of the time—which is why it’s so important to seek second opinions. Stroke, heart attacks, fibromyalgia, and depression all also among the most common misdiagnosed issues.

Surgical Errors
Surgical errors can dramatically reduce the quality of life for an individual. This could involve the doctor performing the wrong type of surgery, using non-sterile surgical equipment that leads to infections, damaging internal areas during surgery, administering an inaccurate amount of anesthesia, and much more.

There’s a common misconception that patients who suffer as a result of negligent surgical error have no right to file a lawsuit because of the mountain of consenting paperwork they’ve signed for treatment. These documents are often null and void when it comes to medical malpractice. Just because you signed a paper warning you of the consequences of a particular operation, for example, doesn’t mean it’s acceptable for a doctor to treat you negligently.

Medication Mishaps
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1.3 million people are injured every year because of medication errors. It’s critical for every doctor to carefully analyze a patient’s medical history before they give them any prescriptions. Any time a doctor writes a script, they need to have a comprehensive, 360-degree view of that patient’s health history and current medication list and dosages. Prescribing the wrong medication or dosage could result in disastrous consequences. Sometimes, patients might be given the wrong medication as a result of a misdiagnosis.

In other cases, the doctor fails to warn the patient about potential side effects. It’s a medical professional’s job to educate a patient about the medication that they are taking. For instance, perhaps there are certain foods you shouldn’t take, or medications that you shouldn’t mix. Without the proper knowledge, you could easily make a mistake that further compounds this issue, or even creates new complications.

Speak Up Against Medical Malpractice
It’s important that you always speak up if you believe you or a loved one have suffered as a result of medical malpractice. Unfortunately, although many deaths and complications occur because of negligence, the majority of those victims never take these cases to court. This is because they are either uninformed or don’t believe they have a case on their hands. It’s always better to be safe than sorry; many lawyers will advise you whether you have a strong case on your hands, and some don’t take money from you until the case is won. Always look into your options to determine the best course of action.

This is a guest blog entry.

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