Common Types of Medical Malpractice in the United States

The specific definition of medical malpractice varies from state-to-state. Generally medical malpractice is defined as an act or omission by a health care providers, such as a physician or hospital, in which medical care departs from recognized standards of practice in the medical community where the patient was treated, which results in injury or death to the health care provider’s patient. According to a recent government study, preventable medical errors, during or after surgery, cause 10 percent of surgery-related deaths, and cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year. Below are the most common types of malpractice cases involving medical practitioners.

Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose is a common form of malpractice among health care providers throughout the United States. If a health practitioner misses a diagnosis or gives a wrong diagnosis to a patient, which results in a failure to properly treat, the provider has committed medical malpractice. An example would be a radiologist failing to diagnose an obvious tumor.

Surgical errors often result in medical malpractice. When a surgeon incorrectly performs a surgery, thus deviating from the standard of care, the patient is all too often injured or killed. About 100,000 hospital patients die each year because of surgical errors. Examples of surgical errors include leaving instruments inside patients, which cause serious infections, or operating on the wrong leg.

Anesthesia errors occur when anesthesiologists give a patient the wrong dose of anesthesia. An error in administering anesthesia can result in brain damage or death. Errors during the administration of anesthesia often occur as the direct result of a physician’s negligence, or carelessness. An example of an anesthesia error is administering anesthesia to an allergic patient.

Medical malpractice in the United States is a very alarming issue. Insurance companies falsely pain a picture that there is a medical malpractice crisis and that doctors are leaving the state of Florida. This is a myth. The facts show that there is no such medical malpractice crisis in Florida, doctors are not leaving the state of Florida and that the medical malpractice insurance companies are raking in record profits at the expense of physicians and hospitals.

For every medical malpractice case, insurance companies hire an attorney right away. If you are a victim of medical malpractice, you should consult with an attorney before you speak with anyone else about the incident. The sooner you retain an experienced medical malpractice attorney, the better your chance of protecting your rights as an injured victim of malpractice. Also, in Florida, the statute of limitations is only two years from the date of malpractice, or when you were aware of, or should have been aware of, the malpractice.

Timothy C. Nies leads a firm’s personal injury, maritime injury, civil litigation, and commercial litigation practice groups. He has spent the past 10 years, first defending well-funded insurance companies and large corporations in complex personal injury cases. If you you are looking for a Stuart personal injury lawyer, a reputable Stuart personal injury attorney at Van Riper & Nies Attorneys, P.A. is ready to serve you today!