Hardesty, Tyde, Green & Ashton, P.A.

Medical errors in hospitals have now become the third leading cause of death in the United States, which is a scary statistic to have to inform people about. A staggering number of patients die each year due to medical errors.

A recent study puts the number of deaths due to medical error between 200,000 and 400,000 annually. The previous statistic for deaths due to medical error was only 98,000. The number of deaths from medical malpractice has risen at an alarming rate. The number of deaths from medical error falls behind heart disease and cancer only. There is no other cause higher than those three things.

It is hard to explain why medical error is in the top three leading cause of deaths in one of the most medically advanced nations on the planet, but it is sad and scary a fact. The healthcare liability cases going through litigation suggest the medical mistakes are happening because there is a lack of proper training with the staff, which unfortunately also includes doctors, and another cause is the staff is simply overwhelmed, which includes doctors as well. Despite these unfortunate contributing factors, the mistakes are leading to death and serious injuries, and some of those injuries are extremely painful, and some of the injuries are permanent.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is the term for negligence shown by providers and professionals in the healthcare field. Simply, it refers to substandard care and treatment, which resulted in some degree of additional injury or harm, and it also refers to damage so catastrophic a patient ends up dying.

Most cases of medical negligence and malpractice result from a medical error like medication dosage, the management of a patient's health, treatment or aftercare, but it could have also happened in the diagnosis of the patient, and it often does. In some cases, the error happens because of nothing. In other words, no act was taken to help the patient, which means it was a negligence or omission.

Also Read: What You Should Know About Medical Malpractice

The Leading Causes Resulting in Medical Malpractice

It is very rare to find a case where a doctor or someone in another capacity of medical personnel maliciously tries to cause a patient harm. Accidents do happen though, and stupid, unavoidable accidents happen also. Typically, failure to diagnose or an error in diagnosing is the most common cause of additional harm or death.

There are frequent mistakes made during the surgical process, and some of the mistakes also happen to be drastic and unbelievable, which result in catastrophic damages, failure to even accomplish any helpful treatment and drastic, scary cases where the wrong procedure was done, and those cases sound more like a horror movie. Also, it is common for symptoms be misinterpreted or misread. Perhaps the doctor wrote down the wrong medication for a patient, or a nurse administered the wrong medication entirely.

Basically, it all boils down to simple mistakes most of the time despite how stupid some of those mistakes are. The problem with the situation is a simple apology from medical staff will do nothing to help a sick, damaged patient or the family and friends of a deceased loved one. Before getting into a course of action to mitigate these catastrophic errors, a closer examination of the most common forms of malpractice is warranted. Here are some common, disturbing causes of malpractice.

Also Read: 5 Horrible Reasons Why Emergency Room Errors Happen

Missed Diagnosis

Missed diagnosis is prevalent problem all over the world. All countries have malpractice problems due to it. Very recently a group of Irish researchers completed a thorough audit, and they reviewed thousands of documents pertaining to claims of medical malpractice.

The researchers concluded delayed diagnosis and incorrect diagnosis resulted in most claims of malpractice filed. In fact, delayed and missed diagnosis made up a large majority of medical malpractice claims. Heart attacks and cancer were the most common examples, and those fatal illnesses are also the top killers in the western world. Meningitis and cancer were the most delayed or incorrectly diagnosed for children.

If a diagnosis is missed or delayed it, then patients miss out on critical early treatment. Early detection and treatment is critical in combating heart disease and cancer, and without early detection, they will often lead to death.

The wrong diagnosis for a serious illness can be disastrous too. Treatments can lead to severe pain, illness and disability. A good example would be cancer. Imagine if a cancer diagnosis was wrong, and a person had to suffer through unnecessary chemotherapy.

Medication Errors

Medication errors comes in next for the most prevalent kind of medical malpractice. Mistakes with medication accounts for nearly a fifth of all claims. For example, steroids, antidepressants, anticoagulants, antipsychotics and antibiotics have been erroneously prescribed, dosages have been wrong and the administration of medications like these have ended up killing about half of patients of 60 when errors are made because of the age group is typically on a larger regiment of medication.

Surgical Errors on the Wrong Place or Patient

Surgical procedures on the wrong patient, the wrong body part, leaving equipment inside someone or the wrong procedure are horrific stories, but it does happen. Lack of or poor communication is usually to blame. This is extremely rare, but it does happen about once in every 112,000 surgical procedures.

Errors With Anesthesia

Although there are supposed to thorough interviews prior to procedures. Mistakes do happen, and unfortunately, sometimes those mistakes can careless, fatal or both much like the errors with surgery.

Also Read: Common Anesthesia Complications

Problems With the Test Results

Doctors tend to multitask a lot, and some just don't pay enough attention even when they are capable, so it should come as no shock when failing to read test results can cause serious health problems for a sick patient. Lost or ignored test results for a patient leads to the patient suffering, and it also leads to their conditions deteriorating. Ignoring a test result can also prevent the administration of treatment, which may improve, cure or save a patient's life too.

If you or a loved one has been the unfortunate victim of medical malpractice, then Jax Legal will do their very best to get you the compensation and peace of mind you deserve.

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