Medical malpractice lawsuits are emotionally draining for everyone involved. Although the vast majority of doctors do their very best to provide ideal care, mistakes still happen. When these mistakes happen due to negligence or reckless behavior, responsible medical professionals can be sued for medical malpractice. Eight types of medical malpractice lawsuits are particularly common:
1. Surgical Errors
Some of the most severe injuries that arise from medical malpractice situations involve surgical errors. After all, surgery has to be hyper-precise to be successful, and even minor mistakes can lead to life-long complications and even death. Due to this, most surgeons carry heavy, pricey insurance policies to protect themselves from potential medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one have been harmed by a doctor’s negligence, you should seek out a medical malpractice lawyer in your area to help you seek justice and to ensure that you get the restitution that you rightfully deserve.
2. Failure to Treat
When a medical professional fails to treat a serious injury or condition, and does so knowingly, they can be sued for the damages that that lack of action causes. Especially if they refrain from treating a patient due to non-legally protected personal beliefs, they can find themselves in hot water. Thankfully, the vast majority of medical professionals are fully dedicated to giving every single patient they treat the best care humanly possible. Due to this, this is one of the less common types of medical malpractice lawsuits that are filed in US courts every year.
3. Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosed patients often deal with huge medical and personal consequences (not to mention financial consequences) when they are misdiagnosed. That being said, proving that a misdiagnosis occurred due to negligence can be incredibly difficult. When a doctor is proven to have negligently misdiagnosed a patient, however, the consequences of their lack of professionalism and care can be severe.
4. Delayed Diagnosis
Similarly, a doctor can be sued for medical malpractice if they cause a delay to a serious medical diagnosis via negligent behavior or reckless action. This is another tough case to prove in court, and typically medical boards will intervene in these cases to get to the bottom of whether or not medical malpractice actually occurred. Having solid legal representation on your side is key when seeking to file a medical malpractice suit due to a negligently delayed diagnosis.
5. Failure to Treat Infections
Infections can vary wildly in intensity. They can be simple irritation hazards, or life-threatening, in fact. Due to this potential severity, infections must be treated in a speedy, thoughtful, and precise fashion. When a medical professional fails to treat or prevent infections, they can be sued for medical malpractice. Typically, these lawsuits only occur if severe, life-affecting, or threatening infection is either ignored or allowed to fester, however. Sepsis, and other painful conditions, can arise from a poorly-treated, or untreated infection area as well.
6. Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors lead to some of the most dangerous (and often deadly) medical mistakes. When someone is not put to sleep properly, they can enter cardiac arrest, or suffer great, overwhelming pain. Due to this, doctors who commit negligent anesthesia errors are often sued via a medical malpractice lawsuit. Since several well-known celebrities have died due to medical negligence surrounding the anesthesia process, this is the type of medical malpractice the general public is most likely to know more about.
7. Prescription Drug Errors
There’s a reason that doctors have to be hyper-vigilant when prescribing most medications. Not only can some medications lead to serious issues such as addiction, but the amount of potential interactions that can exist between medications is vast. For this reason, doctors and pharmacists have to work closely together to ensure medications are prescribed safely. When this process fails due to negligence, large-scale medical malpractice lawsuits might be filed against the responsible medical workers in an attempt to secure justice for their victims.
8. Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are unfortunately much more common than most people realize. While many birth injuries are easy to treat and can be remedied within a matter of days, others are much more severe and can lead to life-long complications (and even death in rare cases). Conditions like cerebral palsy, nerve damage, and shoulder dystocia are commonly associated with birth-related injuries. Typically, these injuries occur due to improper birthing tool usage, or negligent behavior from the medical workers helping to deliver a baby. No matter what malpractice leads to a lawsuit, most medical malpractice suits will lead to the accused doctors having to face some type of medical regulation board to keep their license.
