Different Types of Medical Malpractice

October 18, 2017

Many have heard of medical malpractice and have a general idea of what the broad definition of it is: any act a physician makes during treatment that deviates from an accepted practice and directly causes injury to the patient.

However, the idea of medical malpractice can go much deeper than this broad definition. There are multiple different categories of medical malpractice, and in a legal case, it is important to understand your own unique case and be as specific as you can be. Therefore it is important to educate yourself on the different forms of medical malpractice:

Misdiagnoses

A huge percentage of medical errors occur because of a misdiagnosis. In many of these cases, the doctor either treats the patient for the wrong thing or doesn’t treat the patient at all when the patient is actually extremely ill.

Many illnesses that are commonly misdiagnosed are heart attacks, tumors, and blood clots. All of these can be fatal if not treated immediately.

The reason that misdiagnoses are common is simple: Every patient in different. Some ill patients have the symptoms straight out of a textbook, while others may not show any of the common symptoms. However, no matter the reasoning for the mistake, misdiagnoses can have fatal effects and should be taken seriously.

Mistakes in Prescriptions

A significant amount of medical errors occur because a patient received the wrong drug or the wrong amount of the right one.

Medicine is a very delicate balance. This is why the people who handle it often spend a significant amount of time in school being educated on it. Prescription mistakes are not only seen in hospitals, but many times doctors will write the wrong prescription for a patient to pick up at the pharmacy.

This type of medical error is easy to make. However, the results of it can be devastating. The wrong drug or wrong amount can cause a person’s body to react in many different ways, sometimes leading to shock or even death.

Surgical Errors

There are typically multiple medical professionals in a room during surgery. This is mostly protocol in order to prevent error by allowing multiple people to double-check each other’s work to make sure no steps are overlooked. However, sometimes mistakes will still be made.

There are two common types of surgical errors. The first type is an error made by the surgeon himself. Some common errors might be damaging a nerve, leaving a foreign object in the body, failing to control a bleed, or even operating on the wrong part of the body.

The second type of surgical error concerns the anesthesiologist. In these cases, negligence is typically the cause of the error. There are several instances where too much, too little, or the wrong type of anesthesia is used. In other cases, the patient might not be handled with the proper care while under anesthesia. Some examples of this necessary care include properly moving the patients during and after the surgery and ensuring that too much pressure isn’t placed on any specific part of the patient’s body. Anesthesiologists are trained for all of these protocols in order to ensure that these issues do not occur.

Help from an Indiana Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice is a tricky subject. We must realize that people make mistakes, but we must also understand that medical mistakes are often much more costly in every sense of the word. If you were injured because of medical negligence and malpractice, you are entitled to compensation for your pain. Call Hensley Legal Group today for a free consultation or contact us online.