Find an experienced personal injury attorney in your state for a case review. Visit LawyerShop's national attorney directory.

Information on Medical Malpractice from a Medical Negligence Attorney

People seek medical services when they are hurt, sick, pregnant, or otherwise in need. In some instances, however, negligent healthcare providers actually injure patients rather than help them. While it may sound like a fluke occurrence, medical malpractice is much more common than one might think. A recent study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that almost 100,000 deaths result from medical malpractice each year.

If you or a loved one was harmed by medical negligence, contact a medical malpractice attorney for legal advice. A qualified lawyer can help you recover the compensation you deserve.

Types of Medical Malpractice

Because there are so many fields of medicine, an experienced medical malpractice lawyer is trained to handle a wide variety of cases. Some common types of medical negligence are listed below:

Misdiagnosis
Surgical errors
Anesthetic errors
Medication errors
Birth Injury
Nursing Home Abuse

Misdiagnosis

Surprisingly, many medical malpractice cases involve misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose. If a physician makes the wrong diagnosis, the patient may not get appropriate medical treatment and could sustain further injury. If a doctor fails to diagnose cancer, for example, the disease could spread and the consequences could be fatal. Sometimes a misdiagnosis might result if hospital staff members do not provide an adequate standard of care, which is considered medical negligence. Contact a medical malpractice lawyer if you or a loved one was misdiagnosed by a medical professional.

Surgical Errors

When a surgeon makes a mistake during a surgical procedure, he or she may be held liable, depending on the circumstances involved. Common surgical errors include: wrong-site surgery, wrong surgical procedure, unnecessary surgery, and leaving a surgical instrument in the body. A specific example of this type of medical malpractice would be removing the wrong kidney.

Anesthetic Errors

The administration of an anesthetic, particularly one that induces general anesthesia, can be dangerous. If the anesthesiologist administers the wrong dose of anesthetic, a patient may have an adverse reaction, which could result in injury or death. If you or a loved one was affected by this form of medical negligence, an experienced medical malpractice attorney can take legal action against the negligent anesthesiologist.

Medication Errors

At healthcare facilities, the medical staffs need to keep track of numerous patients, the types of medicine each needs, any allergies or drug interactions, and the schedules for administering medication. When mistakes are made, the consequences can be severe, and a healthcare facility may be found liable for medical negligence.