Doctors might have to attend several years of medical school and go through countless hours of training before they can practice. But, this doesn’t mean that they are immune from making mistakes. Doctors get tired. They work excessive amounts of hours in highly stressful situations. And all too often, they make mistakes that can change their patients’ lives in unexpected and unwanted days. Sometimes, their mistakes result in injuries or even death.
When negligence by a physician or health care provider results in death, an injury, or another serious problem, it can be wise to consult with a malpractice attorney. They specialize in lawsuits that help people receive damage compensation for negligence from a health care provider.
Medical malpractice might seem like something that does not happen often. On the contrary, health care providers are negligent and their patients pay the price. There are several types of medical malpractice that patients should be aware of before they walk into their next health care appointment. These five types of medical malpractice happen more often than people think:
Errors happen during surgery
When an error happens during surgery, the patient’s life can change forever. Simply because a patient signs a release form before the operation, the patient can still meet with a malpractice lawyer if something unexpected happened. If negligence happens during the surgery, the patient may have some recourse for injuries, pain, suffering, and other problems. If a patient dies during surgery, the survivors should see an attorney.
Adequate treatment is withheld
All too often, physicians have too many patients to care for and they make errors in treatment. They might make a diagnosis, but then fail to provide necessary treatment. This is generally called failure to treat and courts often see it as a way that doctors show they care more about money than their patients. It can involve the doctor not given necessary treatment and it can also involve not giving a referral to a specialist or offering to provide follow up care.
Diagnosis is wrong
There are several ways a health care provider can make a mistake with a diagnosis. It can be wrong, which then means the patient does not receive appropriate care. The diagnosis can also be late, so the patient does not receive care in time and more problems occur. Sometimes, patients who are completely healthy receive diagnoses that change their health in irreversible ways.
Medical device does not work properly
Medical devices can break during procedures and this can cause patient pain and suffering. Sometimes it is the manufacturer who to blame and other times it is the health care provider who is negligent.
Injury occurs during birth
There are several ways that injuries can happen during birth. Injuries can happen to babies and to mothers both before, during, and after delivery. Prenatal care may have been lacking. And, postpartum care may be insubstantial. If the injuries were caused by negligence, then the families should see an attorney.
