Common Types of Medical Malpractice Claims
What medical errors most often give rise to medical malpractice lawsuits?
When we are injured or ill, we rely on doctors and other healthcare professionals to provide us with the quality medical care we need. While most doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are trained professionals who strive diligently to heal patients, medical mistakes occur far more often than most of us realize. According to recent research by the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, medical malpractice may in fact be the third leading cause of death in the United States, right behind heart disease and cancer.
Medical malpractice happens when a healthcare professional provides a patient with care or treatment falling bellowing acceptable standards of care within the medical field, resulting in injury or death. Medical malpractice can take many forms and may not always be easy to recognize. Some of the most common types of medical malpractice claims in Georgia include:
- Delayed or misdiagnosis: A prompt and accurate diagnosis is critical to the effective medical treatment of a patient. If your doctor fails to timely diagnose you or makes a mistake in your diagnosis, you could miss out on life saving treatment. Patients injured due to a delayed or misdiagnosis may have a viable medical malpractice claim if they can show another doctor, under similar circumstances and in the same field, would not have erred.
- Medication mistakes: Prescription drugs can be life-saving, but if errors are made during the manufacturing, prescribing, administering, or filling stage, serious injury can occur. Medical malpractice actions can be filed against negligent doctors, pharmacists, nurses, or drug manufacturers due to prescription drug errors.
- Surgical errors: Surgeons and anesthesiologists make mistakes during surgery on a daily basis. Surgical errors can have devastating results and could include instruments left within the patient’s body, use of unclean instruments, operating on the wrong body part, and much more. Negligent surgeons or anesthesiologists can be held accountable in a medical malpractice lawsuit for damages stemming from their error.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex actions that require the assistance of an experienced medical malpractice attorney. If you suspect you have been injured due to medical negligence, contact a Georgia medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible to protect your legal rights.
Posted in: Medical Malpractice