Medical malpractice is a significant problem in the US. For example, a 2016 study showed that 250,000 people die from medical errors in the US annually. This thus made medical mistakes the third leading cause of death in the United States. Considering such alarming statistics, patients should contact Douglasville personal injury lawyers if they suspect any foul play after medical procedures.
Georgia’s personal injury law allows you to recover compensation for medical malpractice. Therefore, you can make medical practitioners pay for their negligence. Importantly, though, medical malpractice claims will make doctors more careful when handling patients. This thus means that instituting legal action achieves two essential purposes.
What Is a Medical Error?
A medical error is a preventable, adverse effect of medical procedures. Notably, it’s inconsequential whether or not the patient is aware of the error. Medical mistakes occur for several reasons. For example, communication breakdowns during medical procedures can cause dangerous mistakes. Other factors include:
- Patient-related issues
- Poor training
- Inadequate staffing and workflow
- Faulty hospital equipment
- Poor hospital policies
- Human errors such as poor documentation and labeling of samples
Top 5 Medical Mistakes in Douglasville
Douglasville medical practitioners make several types of medical mistakes. Below, we explain five of such errors.
Diagnosis Errors
Diagnosis is the beginning of medical treatment. So, if a doctor makes a mistake at this stage, their subsequent actions will be wrong too. A diagnosis error could be delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis occurs when medical practitioners wrongly diagnose a patient’s symptoms.
This is often the case where the patient shows symptoms closely related to two diseases. Misdiagnosis means that the doctor begins treating another disease. Consequently, the original condition worsens. If the doctor diagnoses the proper illness later, this is a delayed diagnosis. Such delay gives you the right to file a medical malpractice claim.
Hospitalization Errors
Medical staff can also make mistakes regarding how long they keep patients in the hospital. Firstly, rushing a patient home immediately can make them fall ill again. It can even worsen their symptoms or expose them to new diseases. This is usually the case after surgery.
However, keeping a patient in the hospital for too long is wrong too. A prolonged hospital stay can expose such patients to infections and other issues. Therefore, it’ll be best to explain your symptoms to your doctor honestly. Then, they can recommend hospitalization periods. They’ll thus be liable for any errors they make.
Surgical Errors
As the name implies, surgical errors are any mistakes that occur during surgical procedures. A typical cause of surgical errors is poor communication between lead surgeons and their operating team. In addition, multiple medical practitioners partake in surgeries. Therefore, several parties can commit surgical errors.
Similarly, surgical mistakes can take several forms. Examples of these errors include:
- Wrong-site surgery
- Operating on the wrong person
- Leaving a foreign object inside a patient’s body
- Performing the wrong operation
- Negligent post-operative care
- Surgical infections
Medication Errors
Doctors and pharmacists also make medication errors. For example, a medical practitioner can prescribe the wrong medication for a patient. Similarly, a pharmacist can mistakenly give a patient drugs contrary to the doctor’s prescription.
Other examples of medication errors include:
- Prescribing the wrong dosage
- Administering the wrong dosage or medication type
- Prescribing drugs that interact with each other
- Prescribing drugs a patient is allergic to
Whatever the case, medication errors can significantly hurt a person. It can even lead to fatalities in some cases.
Anesthesia Errors
Surgeons use anesthesia during surgeries to reduce the patient’s pain. So, anesthesia mistakes are related to surgical errors. Notably, anesthesia errors can occur during the pre-operation review or the medical procedure itself.
Anaesthesiology is an inherently risky practice. Therefore, the anesthesiologist must be extra careful to avoid mistakes. A mistake can lead to permanent injuries, brain damage, or death. Examples of anesthesia errors include:
- Dosage errors (low dosages or overdose)
- Delayed application of anesthesia
- Inability to recognize and respond to anesthesia complications
- Failure to review patient’s history to identify potential anesthesia complications
- Improper pre-operation counseling on the importance of anesthesia rules
- Faulty equipment
- Failure to intubate (intubation errors)
Talk to Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today!
Have you just finished, or you’re still on a medical treatment plan? Do you feel you’re suffering any disadvantages because of the doctor’s carelessness? It’ll be best to talk to our Douglasville medical malpractice attorneys if you do.
Our lawyers can help you get compensation for your losses. We’ve won millions of dollars for our clients at the Law Office of John B. Jackson. So, you can rest assured of the best results. Call us today for a FREE consultation on your case.
