What are the most frequent medical malpractice claims?

Healthcare is supposed to help people recover and stay as healthy as possible. However, injuries caused by medical malpractice have accounted for the third leading cause of death in the US. Surprisingly, about 20,000 medical malpractice claims get filed each year.

What is Medical Malpractice?

The harm caused to a patient by doctors, hospitals, or health care workers due to negligence results in medical malpractice. The medical malpractice claims result from and include the violation of the standard of care by health care professionals, an injury caused due to negligence, or an injury that has caused significant damage. Here are the four most common medical malpractice claims.

1. Diagnosis-Related Errors

This has been a leading cause of medical malpractice claims. When the diagnosis is incorrect or late, it may lead to the patient receiving incorrect treatment or not receiving timely treatment. The mistakes that contribute to diagnostic errors are physicians failing to recognize clinical symptoms and diagnose, misdiagnosis referral to a specialist, follow-up errors, mislabeling, and loss of lab results. An accurate and timely diagnosis is essential for timely treatment and can result in life or death consequences.

2. Surgical Errors

The second common cause of medical malpractice claims stems from alleging a surgeon’s procedure was not done right. It isn’t uncommon to find claims about a foreign object left inside the body in the course of the surgery, an unnecessarily performed procedure, or surgery performed on the wrong part.

3. Medication Errors

Wrong prescription drugs can result in an allergic reaction or even loss of life. Medication errors can occur at any stage, right from the healthcare professional ordering it, to providing an incorrect dosage to the patient, to failure to recognize allergic or dangerous reactions to the drug.

4. Childbirth Injuries

A very stressful, yet delicate procedure for both mother and child, medical negligence could lead to grave consequences at any stage of childbirth. Improper use of forceps or vacuum, failure to recognize and respond to fetal distress, delay in performing a C-section, and substandard prenatal care have catastrophic aftermath. Mishandling the baby and improper care of the mother before and after the process lead to medical malpractice claims.

If you find yourself or any family member suffering due to these causes, you must speak with a medical malpractice attorney to help you with restitution. To learn more about the services we offer, contact us today.