The number of paid medical malpractice claims has been trending downward over the past few years, but this doesn’t mean that medical malpractice is uncommon. There are still thousands of paid claims every year (and that doesn’t include medical malpractice situations that never make it to court).

There are several types of medical malpractice that are more common than others. If you think that you might need to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, it’s helpful to be informed.

Read on to learn all about a few examples of medical malpractice.

Misdiagnosis

It’s no secret that diagnosing medical conditions can be complicated. Often, doctors make educated guesses based on their education and experience, but those diagnoses aren’t always correct.

There is some leeway when it comes to misdiagnosis. It’s the doctor’s responsibility to follow best practices and do their due diligence. If they followed hospital procedures, a malpractice suit is unlikely.

If, however, a doctor was careless or negligent, malpractice is a possibility. Read this article if you think that your misdiagnosis may be a malpractice situation.

Medication Errors

Medication errors aren’t uncommon in the healthcare field. There are several ways that this could happen.

It could be a result of the patient being prescribed the wrong medication for their diagnosis. Some medications can be dangerous if used improperly.

The patient may have the right prescription, but the wrong dose. If the patient is harmed by the wrong dosage, they may have a case for medical malpractice.

Sometimes patients have the right prescriptions and the right dosages, but they’re given the wrong medications when they’re in the hospital. A healthcare worker could misread the label and administer the wrong medication.

Surgical Errors

Surgical errors are more common than people would like to think. There are plenty of ways that a surgery can go wrong, and if it’s the result of negligence, you’ll have a serious malpractice case.

Surgeons can leave foreign objects (like surgical tools) in the patient’s body, fail to close incisions, cause further injury, and even perform surgery on the wrong part of the body.

All of these things can result in serious harm to the patient and it’s difficult to argue that the surgeon followed best practices when it resulted in such a dire mistake.

Over-Treating

Many people think that under-treating is the largest problem in medicine, but this isn’t true. Doctors are more likely to be cautious when treating patients as over-treating can be more dangerous.

Patients that are subjected to unnecessary treatments won’t only face medical burdens. They can also experience excessive financial burdens from procedures that did nothing for their health.

Have You Experienced These Types of Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a broad term. All types of medical malpractice are subjective, so it’s important to talk to an experienced medical malpractice lawyer about whether or not you have a valid case.

You deserve compensation for medical malpractice.

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