Common Forms of Medical Malpractice

The last thing you ever want to think about when visiting a doctor is that you could leave worse off than when you arrived. Medical malpractice laws exist for a reason and every year people file lawsuits against medical professionals because mistakes were made. However, this type of law isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds. Let’s take a look at some common examples of malpractice to give you an idea of what qualifies.

Anesthesia Errors

When it comes to invasive surgery and other procedures that could cause unnecessary pain, anesthesiologists are called in to help numb the patient to this suffering, putting them under at the same time.

Anesthesiology is a sensitive science, though, that involves the precise use of oxygen, anesthetic agents, other substances and various equipment. Mistakes could mean extreme physical pain or even death. Sometimes malpractice lawsuits against anesthesiologists happen solely because the doctor didn’t check beforehand to see if the patient had any allergies or sensitivity issues that would cause complications.

Birthing Injuries

While the birth of a child should be the happiest day of a couple’s life, unfortunately, a number of things can go wrong too. Mistakes made by the medical team assigned to the birth could end up injuring the mother. Sadly, the baby could also be affected, resulting in things like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, brain damage and, most tragically, death.
You could also sue the doctor in charge if they failed to recognize the signs of possible abnormalities like large baby syndrome, Rh-incompatibility and malformations.

Burn Therapy

When you suffer a serious burn, it makes sense that you would seek medical attention. Depending on the severity of the injury, a number of treatments may be used. You could end up needing to file a malpractice suit, though, if the doctor causes a loss of tissue or further injury. In some rare cases, people have even died from mistreatment of their burns.

Defective Medications

One form of medical malpractice you may not have thought of is in cases where someone is taking medication that is defective. Much like a product liability suit, so long as you correctly followed the directions for using the medication, you could sue the manufacturer. In cases like these, the problem is often that the medicine didn’t meet legal standards or that risks were not properly explained.

Of course, if a doctor prescribed the medication to you without first ensuring it wouldn’t cause problems with other medicine you take or issues unique to your physiology, you could potentially sue them for any complications or injuries that mistake caused.

Failure to Diagnose

Sometimes, despite having all the pertinent information, a doctor makes the wrong diagnosis. Others times, they make no diagnosis at all, again, despite having all the information they needed. In either case, a medical malpractice suit can often result.

There are many situations and circumstances that may factor into a medical malpractice suit. Don’t try filing one of these suits on your own or entrusting it to an inexperienced attorney. Contact us today.  We’re here to help.