What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical Malpractice refers to improper, untimely or otherwise negligent performance, diagnosis or treatment by a doctor, hospital staff or other medical professional. Medical malpractice can happen in a wide variety of ways, including misdiagnosis, late diagnosis, surgical mistakes, injuries during child birth, prescription errors, anesthesia errors and more. One estimate by the institute of medicine concluded that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in hospitals annually each year due to preventable medical errors.

Examples of Medical Malpractice

A doctor is held to a standard of care to ensure every patient receives the medical treatment necessary to maintain the best possible health. When this standard of care is not maintained, medical malpractice can occur. Some examples are as follows:

Misdiagnosis of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

A man goes to a hospital and complains of pain and swelling of his leg. A doctor erroneously diagnoses his symptoms as a strained muscle. Due to this misdiagnosis of DVT, the man later suffers a pulmonary embolism and dies.

Injury During Surgery

A woman undergoes surgery to remove an inflamed appendix, and during the surgery, her ureter (a duct which carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder) is nicked by a surgical instrument. A week after the surgery, the woman is again admitted to the hospital and it is found that urine has been leaking into her abdomen from a cut ureter. Consequently, several more surgeries are required to fix the damage.

Late Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease

A man goes to the emergency room with complaints of chest pains. The doctor on duty fails to correctly diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) and a possible impending heart attack, and sends the man home. The man later suffers a serious heart attack and loses his life.

Failure to Follow Up with Treatment

A man goes in to see his doctor for a check up, and it is found that there is a high level of iron in his blood. The doctor orders that the man come in weekly to have blood removed to lower the iron levels. As directed, the man comes in every week to have blood drawn by a nurse, but the doctor fails to follow up so the man continues on with this treatment for six months. After six months, the mans immune system is damaged almost beyond repair and begins suffering severe illnesses and constant fatigue and complains to his doctor, who then admits that the blood drawing should not have continued for more than a few weeks.

Misdiagnosis or Late Diagnosis of Cancer

A woman goes in to see her doctor for her annual checkup, the doctor notices a small lump in her breast. After a quick look into her medical history and family record, he concludes that it is unlikely to be cancer and does not order any more tests. This proves to be a serious error; a failure to diagnose cancer. The woman is diagnosed with breast cancer one year later, and loses a breast.

Remedies for Medical Malpractice

The only legal remedy for a medical malpractice case is to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor, hospital or medical professional responsible. These lawsuits are notoriously difficult and expensive to prosecute, so it's important to discuss your case first with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer. Most of these attorneys will offer a free initial consultation where the patient, or family member can discuss the case and get legal advice and guidance regarding the options to get compensation.