Medication Errors, Misdiagnosis, and Other Medical Malpractice Issues – When Is It Negligence?

When you visit or doctor or are admitted into a hospital, you put your trust into the medical professionals. However, what happens if a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional makes a mistake that can end up causing you more harm than good? Below are some common medical malpractice occurrences and what you can do.

Mistakes in Surgery

Poor pre-op preparation and sloppy surgical execution create more surgical errors than most people probably realize. Negligent actions during surgery can range carelessness, including leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, to severe oversights, including removing the wrong organ or otherwise performing the wrong type of surgery on a patient or incorrectly administering anesthesia.

Medication Errors

Doctors may negligently prescribe the wrong medication or a medical assistant or nurse could administer an incorrect drug, causing injury and even death. These medication errors can typically be avoided simply by the medical professionals paying better attention to the patient and the entire situation.

Failure to Diagnose

Doctors are charged with listening to patients, reviewing their symptoms, determining what is wrong, and treating the ailment. However, in some cases, the medical professional fails to diagnose a problem or incorrectly diagnoses it as another problem. These failures could be the result of not conducting proper tests or failing to properly recognize a patient's symptoms. If a disease, like cancer, is not properly diagnosed, the patient's health may continue to deteriorate and, at times, the treatment for one disease could actually cause more harm if the patient does not have that disease.

Dealing with Medical Malpractice

If you were injured or misdiagnosed, or if you lost a loved one to the negligence of a medical professional, you may have the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit. Although money cannot necessarily fix the problem, a lawsuit can hold the negligent parties responsible and can help you deal with future medical expenses, loss of income, and other hardships. Speak to a personal injury attorney skilled in medical malpractice law to find out if you can file lawsuit.