Areas Of Medical Malpractice

Failure to diagnose a disease can have irreversible effects. Common examples of failure to diagnose diseases are:

  1. Failure to diagnose a heart attack
  2. Failure to diagnose cancer
  3. Failure to diagnose a ruptured appendix
  4. Failure to diagnose a pulmonary embolism

Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries

Brain and Spinal Cord injuries may have adverse, long-term, life changing effects that may be permanent. Brain or spinal cord injuries can be the result of automobile or motorcycle injuries, playground accidents for children, birth injuries, defective products or wrongful conduct.

Negligence in performing a surgery or unnecessary surgery

Surgical errors are those committed by surgeons and their supporting staff of nurses, and anesthesiologists.

Examples of surgical errors include:

  1. Anesthesia mistake
  2. Failure to complete the intended procedure
  3. Leaving a foreign object inside a body
  4. Performing the wrong procedure at the correct surgical site
  5. Surgical errors may also result from a failure of hospital procedure.

Wrong dosage or drug given by pharmacy

Wrong dosage or drug given by a pharmacy is a medication error committed by a pharmacy which causes injury or damage to the patient.

Common examples of medication errors include:

  1. Miscommunication of drug orders (confusion between types of drugs with similar names, confusion of dosage)
  2. Failure to warn of effects of drugs (lack of up-date of warning)
  3. Incomplete patient information (lack of knowledge of patient’s allergies, lack of knowledge of patient’s lab results)

Emergency room mistakes

Emergency room mistakes occurs when medical staff, such as physicians and nurses, failure to follow protocol or the standard of care.

Examples include:

  1. Misdiagnosis or improper treatment of a heart attack
  2. Misdiagnosis or improper treatment of spinal cord injury resulting in permanent nerve damage and paralysis.
  3. Failure to take proper medical or surgical history resulting in serious or fatal medication errors.

Birth trauma

Birth Trauma consists of defects and injuries suffered by a child while passing through the birth canal. Certain injuries may be due to the restriction of oxygen and blood flow intake.

Examples of claims for birth-related injuries include:

  1. Failure to respond to bleeding
  2. Failing to respond or detect umbilical cord entrapment
  3. Delay the ordering of cesarean section
  4. Failing to respond to fetal distress
  5. Inappropriate administration of Pitocin
  6. Failure to diagnose or predict birth complications

Psychiatric/Mental Health Malpractice or negligence

Psychiatric medical malpractice is a form of medical malpractice performed by a psychiatrist.

Psychiatric medical malpractice may include any of the following:

  1. Failure to treat
  2. Failure to diagnose
  3. Failure to recognize worsening of condition
  4. Negligent psychotherapy
  5. Failure to monitor medications
  6. Over-prescribing of medication

Permanent disfigurement

Permanent disfigurement occurs when a doctor’s medical malpractice causes permanent injury to an individual.

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