Medical malpractice is a serious issue. Healthcare providers are entrusted with the care of their patients, and when they fail to do so, it can have devastating consequences. Even more concerning is the fact that medical malpractice cases are on the rise. That’s why it’s so important for patients and their families to be aware of what types of medical malpractice are out there, so they can understand their rights–and what to do if they feel that a loved one has been wronged by the healthcare system.
Dan Zohar is a leading personal injury attorney with more than three decades of legal experience. During his career, Dan Zohar has seen, negotiated, and won thousands of personal injury claims. Today, he is sharing everything you need to know about medical negligence claims.
Table of Contents:
What is medical negligence?
Medical negligence refers to the act or omission by a healthcare provider that falls below the standard of care in his or her profession and causes injury or death to one of his/her patients. When someone becomes injured because of medical malpractice (or negligence), he or she may be entitled to compensation for damages including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering/emotional distress, disability payments, etc., but this is not always possible.
Types of Medical Malpractice
Negligence: When a healthcare provider falls below the standard of care in their profession and causes injury or death to one of his/her patients.
Misdiagnosis: A doctor fails to diagnose a patient’s serious condition, which results in further illness for the patient. For example, if you have stomach pain and your doctor diagnoses it as heartburn, but it’s actually a serious condition like appendicitis.
Incorrect treatment: A doctor prescribes the wrong drugs to a patient or makes a surgical error during an operation that causes further injury and pain for his/her patients. For example, if you go in for surgery on your right foot and come out with stitches on your left foot.
Wrongful birth: In a wrongful birth case, the plaintiff sues for prenatal negligence after his/her child is born with disabilities from medical malpractice during pregnancy. For example, if you go in to have a “routine” ultrasound and the doctor tells you that everything looks good—but there were some abnormalities that they didn’t catch.
Wrongful death: In a wrongful death case, the plaintiff sues for postnatal negligence after his/her child dies from medical malpractice during pregnancy or birth. For example, if you go in to have a “routine” ultrasound and your baby is stillborn because of an error on the part of your doctor.
Failure to obtain informed consent: An example would be if a healthcare provider performs an operation without first obtaining proper consent from his/her patient, which causes further injury or pain for the patient. This is often seen in cases where doctors perform surgery before they explain all possible ramifications of said surgery—or not at all.
Failure to obtain informed consent and failure to disclose information: This type of medical malpractice is very similar, but in this case, the patient has not only had surgery performed on them without proper consent—but also that they were not fully aware of all possible ramifications of said surgery. For example, if you go in for surgery on your right foot and find out afterward that you now have a permanent disability because the doctor didn’t tell you about all of your options before the surgery.
Inadequate or negligent supervision: In this case, a nurse or other healthcare provider does not properly supervise his/her patients—and as a result, they escape from an institution where they are being treated and harm themselves or others.
Denial of requested treatment: An example would be if a patient needs surgery, but the hospital denies him/her—and as a result, he/she has to spend months in recovery because their injury got worse over time. This is very common with patients who are on Medicaid.
Schedule your free consultation today!
If you feel that a loved one has been the victim of medical negligence, you should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Dan Zohar has helped more than 3,000 clients over the past three decades. Call (800) 963-3311 today to schedule a free initial consultation and find out what your next step should be.