When something goes wrong medically, the patient suffers. Medical malpractice is not limited to misdiagnosis.
Unfortunately, in today’s harried and rushed world filled to the brim with new diseases, spectacular accidents needing surgical intervention and new drugs being brought on to the market, medical malpractice is becoming a bit too familiar to many American families. It only takes one small error to set off a chain of events that may result in serious injury or death for the patient. Too often, medical errors are the reason why a plaintiff seeks help from a Chicago injury lawyer to recover damages for their injuries.
Studies over the course of the last 10 years indicate that medication errors have injured approximately 1.5 million people annually and that a higher number of the errors tend to happen in an outpatient setting, as compared to a hospital environment. On the other hand, these same studies also point out that injuries suffered in hospital are more severe.
What are the most common instances that prompt a patient to file a medical malpractice lawsuit? One of the more common reasons for filing a med mal action is misdiagnosis. This is the result of the doctor calling it wrong in the first instance when attempting to diagnose a patient. The plain fact is that if the patient’s problem is diagnosed in error, the medication is incorrect as well. You can well imagine what may happen from there. Statistics show that failure to correctly diagnose breast cancer was the reason behind about 40 percent of med mal lawsuits.
Speaking of medication errors, this is another glaring mistake that makes up a large proportion of medical malpractice cases. That could involve incorrect prescriptions, the wrong combination of medicine(s), the wrong medicine entirely and/or an incorrect dose. Medication errors often worsen a patient’s condition, causing further damage or death. Often, medication mistakes will be cited in a medical malpractice case being presented in court by a Chicago injury lawyer on behalf of an injured client.
Surgical errors also rank fairly high up on the list of medical malpractice lawsuits and may be the result of lack of adequate care or lack of proper pre-operative planning. Errors may involve things such as operating on the wrong body part, puncturing internal organs, incorrect levels of anesthesia administered and using an improper surgical technique. In anesthesia malpractice, the doctor needs to make sure the patient has no pre-existing conditions that may create complications when put under.
As you can see, there are a number of ways medical malpractice may happen and it isn’t restricted to just misdiagnosis. If you feel you have been the victim of medical malpractice, you need to discuss your case with a knowledgeable Chicago injury lawyer. You need to find out what your rights are and how evidence is presented in cases like this.
Michael Osborne is a Chicago injury lawyer. The Law Office of Michael Osborne helps accident, wrongful death, and personal injury victims. To contact a Chicago personal injury attorney or learn more, visit Michaelosbornelaw.com or call (312) 315-1765.
