Every year, millions of people visit hospitals and see doctors with the expectation of getting help for what ails them. However, sometimes things don’t go as expected. Professionals in the medical field, like other professionals, can make mistakes. In as much as some are genuine mistakes, when some mistakes happen in medical practice, they are either as a result of incompetence or negligence. There are laws put in place meant to protect the interest of a patient in case they fall victim to medical malpractice. Here are some common types of medical malpractice.
- Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose
The right diagnosis makes it possible for the patient to get the right treatment. When the symptoms are not too obvious or detectable, it can be easy to miss a diagnosis. Regardless of the circumstances, a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis can be costly to the patient’s health. In case a patient is not treated as they should because of a misdiagnosis, it is possible to hold liable the responsible medical practitioner. Some common diagnosis errors include failed diagnosis of conditions such as diabetes, appendicitis, early signs of heart attack, stroke, cancer meningitis and even pulmonary embolism.
- Mistakes with Anesthesia
Just like medical prescriptions, anesthesia can be life-threatening when administered wrongly. If a medical practitioner did not run the necessary tests on your body type and allergies before administering the anesthesia, you have the right to sue them if the anesthesia affected you badly.
- Errors During Surgery
An error during surgery can cause serious complications to the patient. Some errors include wrong-site surgery, incorrect incisions, wrong patient surgery, complications related to the surgery and also damage in body parts. The patient has the right to sue a hospital or medical practitioner for surgical medical malpractice.
- Use of Defective Products
Sometimes, untimely death or health complications can be caused by the equipment used during the patient’s stay at the hospital. If this happens, the patient can sue the manufacturing company for negligence. There are cases where you will find the hospital using products that did not pass safety standards. In this case, the hospital is liable for malpractice claims.
- Errors in Prescription Drugs
Every year, thousands of people fall victim to wrong prescriptions. This is a very common type of medical malpractice, and in some cases is fatal. There are numerous cases of drug prescription malpractice that go unreported or unnoticed. Some of these errors include incorrect dosage, wrong medication, and failure to anticipate possible complications, illegible prescriptions, and administering defective or dangerous medication. Some medical practitioners likely to be found liable for errors in prescription include doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, physicians, drug manufacturers and also pharmacists.
- Errors in Childbirth
There have been many cases where medical malpractice has caused serious complications or even death in a newborn. For instance, an expectant mother can be put under drugs that harm the baby or the mother. In other cases, a medical practitioner can be negligent during the birthing process. When errors in childbirth cause unnecessary complications to the mother or the child, the patient can sue the medical practitioner for negligence.
For more information on other types of medical malpractice, contact a medical malpractice law firm in your area.
