Shawn Bradley 
Doctors and medical personnel have a duty to treat patients with the utmost care. Sadly, lapses can occur now and then. When doctors and medical personnel fall short of their duty, patients suffer grave injuries or, worse, death.
A Johns Hopkins study found that over 250,000 deaths in the U.S. each year are due to medical errors. If a doctor’s negligence harms a patient, the victim can hire medical malpractice attorneys to sue and claim compensation.
Malpractices violate the profession’s obligation, so let’s discuss the common mistakes that lead to medical lawsuits.
Failure to Diagnose and Misdiagnosis
Physicians may involuntarily make mistakes, leading to severe complications while evaluating patients. Diagnostic errors are a serious safety problem in health care. They’re found in 10% to 20% of autopsies, suggesting over 50,000 patients die annually from these errors in the U.S.
Common diagnostic errors:
- Failure to Diagnose: This error occurs when the doctor fails to identify the symptoms of a severe health condition. Patients usually suffer since the doctor couldn’t specify the problem.
- Medical misdiagnosis: This mistake happens when a doctor wrongly identifies the disease by relying on symptoms and tests. For example, diagnosing pneumonia for a tuberculosis patient.
Commonly misdiagnosed conditions:
- Cancer
- Melanoma
- Diabetes
- Stroke
- Heart attack
Prescription Mistakes
Another notable cause of medical malpractice is prescription mistakes, whereby patients get the wrong prescriptions, dosages, or medication, causing harm. According to the NHS, almost 6,000 people needed medication due to prescription errors in the U.S., making the issue a pandemic.
Typical prescription errors:
- Giving the incorrect medicine
- Incorrect drug labeling
- Prescribing a drug that worsens pre-existing illnesses
- Not informing the patient about possible side effects
Delayed Diagnosis
A delayed diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to evaluate an ailment quickly. Failure to respond promptly may deteriorate the patient’s health and cause severe internal injury since early tests could have led to proper treatment.
Examples of delayed diagnosis:
- Insufficient examination of blood level
- Further tests not conducted on the patient
- Misplacing the lab work of the patient
- Not referring the patient to a specialist when needed
Childbirth Injuries
When medical staff cause avoidable injury to a mother or child during pregnancy or childbirth, it’s often considered negligence and may lead to malpractice claims. Some birth injuries may heal quickly, while others can permanently impact the mother or baby. Most childbirth mistakes happen when healthcare professionals don’t provide the highest level of care.
Common medical errors during childbirth:
- Ignoring fetal distress or not monitoring the baby’s heartbeat properly
- Failing to stop or treat severe tearing or bleeding in the mother
- Not performing a necessary C-section
- Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction without warning of risks
- Excessively yanking or twisting the infant during delivery
Infant injuries from medical errors during childbirth are:
- Brain damage
- Cerebral palsy
- Stillbirth
- Kernicterus
- Newborn jaundice
Surgery Errors
Each surgical procedure has different hazards, and complications might arise despite a doctor’s efforts. Suppose you sustained an avoidable surgical injury. It could qualify as medical malpractice.
Medical negligence lawsuits can stem from any wrong, negligent, or unauthorized acts by surgeons, anesthetists, or physicians during surgery that cause harm or wrongful death.
Common surgical errors include:
- Nerve injury
- Incorrect dosage of anesthesia
- Making an incision in the wrong place
- Leaving a surgical tool inside the patient
- Operating in the wrong area
- Operating on the wrong patient
- Unnecessary procedures
- Lack of necessary experience or credentials
Proving medical professionals and physicians made an error during surgery can be challenging. Hence, talking to a medical malpractice lawyer is essential to establish negligence and seek compensation.
