Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider breaches his or her standard of care, causing injury to a patient. There are many types of medical malpractice claims that arise, but certain errors are more common than others. Some of the most common types of medical negligence include misdiagnosis, prescription drug errors, and surgical mistakes.
#1: Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose
When you visit a physician with symptoms, it is the responsibility of the doctor to thoroughly assess your condition and make a diagnosis. If your physician disregards or overlooks obvious symptoms and misdiagnoses your condition, you can suffer from serious injuries and worsening illnesses.
For example, say that you visit a doctor with chest pains. Instead of ordering an electrocardiogram to rule out the possibility of a heart attack, your doctor prescribes you an antacid, believing that you have heartburn. You later collapse from a heart attack and suffer brain damage due to oxygen loss.
In this situation, your doctor should have recognized chest pain as a serious symptom and ordered the necessary tests to rule out a deadly condition. Because you sustained injuries due to the failure to diagnose, you can file a lawsuit against the at-fault provider.
#2: Medication Errors
Medical professionals must ensure that they prescribe the right medications at the right dosage to a patient. If a doctor commits a prescription drug error and a patient suffers harm as a result of the mistake, he or she may be liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Examples of medication errors include the following.
- Prescribing the wrong medication
- Prescribing too much or too little of a medication
- Prescribing a medication that a patient is allergic to
- Prescribing a medication that interacts dangerously with other drugs that a patient is taking
#3: Failure to Treat
When a doctor diagnoses a condition, he or she will need to properly treat the patient in accordance with the appropriate medical standard of care. If a medical professional deviates from this standard and a patient suffers harm due to his or her mistake, he or she may be liable for medical malpractice. Examples of failure to treat claims include discharging a patient too soon, failing to provide proper follow-up care and a lack of aftercare following surgery.
#4: Surgical Errors
Surgeons must practice extensive care and caution while performing surgical procedures. Unfortunately, some medical professionals commit dangerous acts of negligence in the operating room, putting patients at risk of additional injuries, complications, and worsening illnesses.
Examples of surgical errors include the following.
- Leaving a foreign object inside of a patient
- Performing the wrong surgery
- Performing surgery in the wrong location or body part
- Lacerating a patient’s organs during surgery
- Administering too much or too little anesthesia
- Failure to properly sanitize surgical tools and areas
#5: Birth Injuries
The birth of a child can be a very risky procedure, but medical professionals have the training necessary to execute a safe delivery. Unfortunately, some doctors, nurses, and obstetricians commit serious errors during labor, injuring babies and mothers alike. Examples of birth injuries include failure to monitor a baby’s heart rate and the use of dangerous tools like forceps.
Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you are injured due to a medical professional’s negligence, you deserve justice. In these situations, a Henderson, NV medical malpractice lawyer can fight for your right to maximum compensation. Contact The Janda Law Firm as soon as possible to discuss your medical malpractice claim with our Las Vegas injury lawyer and strategize your next steps toward compensation.