Medical malpractice is a serious issue that can have devastating physical, emotional, and financial consequences for victims. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to determine if you have been the victim of medical malpractice without legal guidance. If you think you may have been harmed due to medical negligence, understanding the five most common types of medical malpractice cases can inform your decision on whether or not to pursue legal action.
1. Medication Errors
Medication errors are one of the most common types of medical malpractice cases. These errors include prescribing the wrong medication, prescribing medications in incorrect dosages, failing to monitor a patient’s reaction to the medication, and administering medication with harmful side effects kept from being disclosed before taking them. Patients should always be aware of potential risks associated with any medications they are prescribed by their doctor and should ask questions if something doesn’t seem right.
2. Surgical Errors
Surgical errors occur when a surgeon makes a mistake during an operation that leads to injury or death for the patient. This can include performing surgery on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient’s body after surgery is complete, operating on the wrong patient, or failing to diagnose an underlying condition before surgery that could lead to complications during the surgery itself or afterward as well as anesthesia errors and improper post-operative care.
3. Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose
When a patient receives an incorrect diagnosis or no diagnosis, this can lead to serious health complications and even death in some cases. In many instances, misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose is due to carelessness on the part of the doctor in failing to order tests or consider all available evidence before making a diagnosis.
It is essential for patients to understand their rights if they feel that their symptoms have gone unnoticed or have endured the consequences of wrong diagnosis. Law firms such as The Tinker Law Firm PLLC specialize in providing legal assistance for victims of wrongful diagnoses, such as failure to diagnose stroke, helping them protect their rights throughout the process. The pursuit of legal action against responsible parties gives both vindication and assurance that similar events will not occur again in the future.
4. Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are one of the most tragic medical malpractice cases, as newborns are especially vulnerable and cannot speak up for themselves if something is wrong during delivery or post-partum care. Common birth injuries include cerebral palsy, brachial plexus, caput succedaneum, oxygen Deprivation, and other conditions resulting from negligent prenatal care during pregnancy or mistakes made during labor and delivery by nurses and doctors.
5. Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
Unfortunately, abuse and neglect in nursing homes are more common than many believe, particularly among elderly patients who may be unable to get help or report abuse due to neglectful staff members or other residents at these facilities. This type of negligence includes:
- Sexual abuse
- Inadequate nutrition
- Dehydration
- Poor hygiene
- Overmedication
- Understaffing
- Unsafe living conditions
- Failure of staff members to provide necessary medical treatment
While these are some of the most common types of medical malpractice cases, there are countless others out there, including wrongful death suits stemming from any negligence mentioned above, so it’s important to understand your rights know when seeking legal counsel if you feel like you may have been harmed due medical negligence.
