Common Medical Malpractice Injuries

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional such as a doctor, nurse, surgeon, or medical facility, such as a clinic, hospital, or emergency room, does not exercise a proper standard of care, which results in the serious injury or death of a patient. While most medical professionals are highly trained individuals committed to the health and wellbeing of their patients, when even one medical staff member fails to exercise a reasonable standard of care the effects can be serious. Medical malpractice may occur in a variety of ways, and result in injuries ranging from mild to severe or even fatal. If you or a loved one suffered a new or worsened injury or condition as a result of possible malpractice, reach out to a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible to discuss your options for recovery.

Common types of medical malpractice include the following:

• Doctor error
• Failure to prevent or treat infections
• Unnecessary surgery
• Misdiagnosis
• Delay in diagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Incorrect treatment
• WSPEs (i.e. wrong-site, wrong-procedure, wrong-patient surgeries)
• RSBs (retained surgical bodies, i.e. foreign objects left inside the body after surgery such as a sponge, towel, or tool)
• Birth injuries
• Pharmaceutical errors (i.e. wrong medicine or dosage)
• Anesthesia errors
• Medical negligence

Medical malpractice can be difficult to differentiate from a poor outcome; unfortunately, even the best doctor may not be able to help in some cases, even when they have exercised the proper standard of care. Some signs which may indicate malpractice played a part in your new or worsened injury include medical staff being unwilling to discuss your treatment/procedure, difficulty obtaining your own medical records, or recovery symptoms which do not coincide with the standard recovery after that type of procedure.

Some of the most common injuries caused by medical malpractice include the following:

• Heart attack
• Cancer
• Internal damage (i.e. bleeding, organ perforation, etc.)
• Nerve damage
• Spinal cord injury
• Oxygen-deprivation injuries (i.e. neurological damage, respiratory damage)
• Worsening of an existing condition due to delay in diagnosis and/or treatment

If you or a loved one experienced any of the above or another injury after medical treatment, and you suspect malpractice may have contributed, it’s important to talk to a medical malpractice attorney. These attorneys know exactly what evidence to look for which may indicate malpractice, as well as how to obtain it. Additionally, these attorneys are much more likely to be able to identify malpractice swiftly and accurately than the patient themself could. These attorneys understand the physical pain and emotional distress which often follows a medical treatment, as well as the financial expenses; that’s why most of these attorneys offer free consultations to patients who may have suffered from malpractice, and often work on contingency, which means a client does not pay for their services unless and until they win their case. This allows the patient and their family to focus on healing and recovery rather than worrying about tracking down evidence and paying yet another bill.

To learn more about medical malpractice injuries or for help filing a claim, reach out to a medical malpractice lawyer.