Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
In the USA, the number of medical malpractice cases is on the rise. In addition, insurance premiums for doctors have also gone up because of the rise in number of medical malpractice. Let us have a look at the medical malpractice lawsuit statistics in the U.S. :
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), medical malpractice resulted in over 98,000 deaths in 1999. In 2006, a research study revealed that medical negligence caused around 1.5 million injuries. Moreover, it was discovered that outpatient settings contributed to most of injuries and deaths compared to hospital settings. In fact, the patient who had treatments in hospitals suffered from more severe injuries. Following is the description of some common kinds of medical malpractice.
Misdiagnosis
A doctor is responsible to diagnose a patient carefully. This is one of the most important stages of a treatment. If an illness is misdiagnosed, then the patient will be likely to receive wrong medications. Therefore, it is important that the doctor should analyze the test results thoroughly. This is because the performance of the treatment and prescriptions of right medicine is dependent on the diagnosis.
Medication Errors
A large number of medical malpractice cases are filed due to the wrong treatment or medications. Examples of medication errors include wrong medicines, wrong prescription, wrong dosage and wrong medicine combination. Medication errors aggravate the condition of a patient rather than alleviating. At times, this type of medical malpractice leads to the wrongful death of a patient.
Birth Injuries
Birth complications can cause injuries to both the mother and the baby. Many factors can cause birth injures, for example, insufficient pre-natal care or failure to conduct tests that can point to abnormalities. Aside from these, hastening childbirth may also cause injuries to the mother and the baby. After the delivery, the baby may suffer from injuries if doctors fail to provide proper care.
Surgical Errors
The lack of planning before an operation can also lead to different types of medical negligence. Surgical errors, for example, puncturing internal organs or failure to provide sufficient dose of anesthesia or operating the wrong part of body or leaving medical instruments during an operation can all lead to serious or fatal injuries.
Anesthesia Malpractice
Doctors should be very careful while administering the anesthesia. An anesthesiologist should make certain the patient has no pre-existing conditions that can cause complications in case anesthesia is given. Inappropriate dosage of anesthesia can contribute to severe impairments or death.
There are many kinds of medical malpractice in all fields of medicine including surgery, gynecology and dentistry. Even pharmacists who prescribe wrong medicine or perform wrong diagnoses can be sued, especially if it has lead to severe injuries to the patient. Medical malpractice also includes unreasonable delays or failure to obtain consent from the patient prior to carrying out a treatment. If you or your relative is a victim of medical malpractice, you should immediately turn to a medical malpractice lawyer in order to sue the responsible party. You should always choose a qualified and competent lawyer so you may be more likely to win the case against the responsible doctor.
For more information contact the best medical malpractice attorney Moseley Collins.