One of the more difficult types of personal injury cases to prove is medical malpractice. This is because medical professionals are frequently given the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong. However, this does not mean that medical malpractice never occurs. It definitely does and the experts at Wagners Law Firm explain the medical errors that can lead to medical malpractice claims.
Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose
Without a proper medical diagnosis, a patient’s condition can’t be treated correctly. A misdiagnosis or a failure to diagnose a condition can lead to worse symptoms, deteriorating health, or even death. The responsibility to properly diagnose a patient lies with the medical professional, but because similar symptoms exist for numerous conditions, misdiagnoses are unfortunately common.
To be considered malpractice, the physician would have to be negligent in their misdiagnosis, which can be difficult to prove. This means that their conduct lacked due care, was careless, or deviated from the standard of care that a reasonable person would use under the circumstances. It takes a lot of evidence to prove medical negligence, so ensure you document everything related to your treatment.
Surgical Errors
While steps have been taken to reduce surgical errors, they still occur and can lead to medical malpractice claims. Specifically, surgical errors include operating on the wrong part of the body, leaving a foreign object inside the patient, performing the wrong surgery, operating on the wrong patient, or making an incision in an incorrect location. These errors are usually easier to prove than misdiagnoses because they’re typically more obvious.
A surgeon can also be charged with malpractice if they don’t provide a patient with the right postoperative recovery instructions, provide the wrong medications or dosages during or after surgery, or neglect to follow up with the patient after surgery. These are a little harder to prove than actual surgical mistakes, but can have just as devastating consequences.
Prescription Errors
Medication mistakes can be deadly and even minor prescription errors often go unreported by patients, but these errors can be considered medical malpractice. Whether the doctor makes a mistake when writing out the prescription, the pharmacist makes a mistake when filling the prescription, or no one takes care to ensure prescribed medications aren’t interacting with other medications, you may have a personal injury claim.
Anesthesia Errors
The anesthesiologist has a critical job during surgery, which is to monitor the patient’s vital signs while they are under anesthesia. If the anesthesiologist does not do their job, the patient could die. Other errors related to anesthesia include failing to evaluate a patient’s medical history to identify potential complications with anesthesia, administering too much anesthesia, improperly placing the breathing tube, failing to provide preoperative instructions, and using defective equipment.
Conclusion
Even though it can be challenging to prove a medical malpractice case, you should not be deterred from filing one if you believe you or a loved one has been injured because of a medical professional’s negligence. You will probably need help in proving negligence, which is where an experienced personal injury attorney comes in. If you’re unsure whether you have a case or not, consult with a medical malpractice expert to find out for sure.
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