Did you know that medical errors, usually linked to medical negligence is the third most popular cause of death in American hospitals? A study by John Hopkins showed that it’s responsible for as many as 250,000 deaths annually, while another estimate puts it at almost 450,000.
These numbers are not just scary, they’re worrisome. And because many people are dying from complications arising from injury and infections acquired from the hospitals that should serve as their place of respite, their loved ones are suing these hospitals and the medical personnel in charge.
Many people routinely get infections –this is the most common complication that people get from hospitals- that they wouldn’t have ordinarily had if they didn’t go to the hospital.
These, combined with the perspective that there are major problems with safety in hospitals means the rate and number of malpractice cases have gone through the roof in recent times. To sue a healthcare facility or professional, there’s has to be a clear case of negligence.
The courts have to be able to prove that the physicians or their staff knowingly or unknowingly put the patient’s life in danger, exposed them to injury or made it easy for them to contract infections.
If you’re looking to sue a medical facility or personnel for medical malpractice, there are factors you need to look at before you can make a solid case. These include:
Wrong Diagnosis
A wrong diagnosis can further worsen a patient’s conditions and even lead to loss of life. When a patient comes to the hospital, they expect that the specialist and healthcare expert in charge of their case would be able to decipher what’s wrong with them.
When they don’t and it leads to infections, injury and even death of their loved ones, the victims and their family can sue the doctor and other healthcare professionals in charge of their case for negligence.
The wrong diagnosis is highly dangerous because not only will the patient end up getting treated for a condition they do not have, but the treatment could end up affecting them adversely.
For instance, if someone who has oropharyngeal abscess is misdiagnosed as having throat cancer and they’re subjected to multiple rounds of chemotherapy, that treatment can affect them for the rest of their lives. Chemotherapy has been known to cause sterility as well as many other health complications later on.
Apart from that, the wrong diagnosis can actually mean that the real issue isn’t addressed. So, not only does the person end up spending a lot of money treating a condition they do not have, but they also haven’t treated the condition that ails them.
A patient can sue a hospital or healthcare practitioner on the basis of this.
Wrong Medications
Wrong medications can wreak a lot of havoc on your health. A good example of this is an individual who is given nitroglycerin while on Cialis. That patient will end up having a heart attack.
If it’s proven that the patient was given the wrong drugs just because the doctor prescribed the wrong medications or didn’t check the patient’s health history, they can hire a medical Malpractice Attorney Manhattan NYC or anyone medical malpractice lawyer near them to sue the doctor.
And the case would usually be on negligence grounds. It doesn’t matter if the doctor made an honest mistake. The fact that the mistake caused severe discomfort, infection, injury, pain and even death, is enough for any patient to sue.
Surgical Mistakes
Ever heard stories about doctors leaving surgical kits or wads of gauze in their patients and sowing them up? How about surgeons who don’t do their job properly, resulting in the patient coming in for more surgical procedures than they really need?
These are some great examples of acts of negligence that leave doctors liable to lawsuits and the suspension of their medical license.
While these acts cannot be intentional –no medical practitioner in their right minds will do that- the reality is that their actions inadvertently put their patient’s life in danger, caused severe harm, and significant discomfort. Surgical mistakes, even if corrected later, can leave the doctor liable to a lawsuit.
Poor Medical Facilities
Nursing homes where the elderly are abandoned and uncared for when their loved ones are paying for treatment, are a good example of this. In some cases, these senior citizens develop bedsores because they weren’t cleaned or bathed for a long time or turned over.
As a result, we’re seeing more people suing nursing and elderly homes and facilities for negligence. These malpractice lawsuits are usually won when there’s concrete evidence that their loved one was abandoned. And their health worsened from that single action or they died because of the infection or injury sustained while they were ignored.
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