Medical malpractice is a serious issue that affects patients and healthcare professionals alike. Understanding the causes of medical malpractice in hospitals is critical to addressing the issue and ensuring patient safety.
1. Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis
Doctors may fail to recognize the signs of a disease or condition, leading to improper treatment or no treatment at all. Misdiagnosis can result from a lack of thorough testing, failure to consider the patient’s medical history or misinterpretation of lab results. A delayed diagnosis can be equally harmful, as some conditions, like cancer or heart disease, may worsen significantly without timely intervention.
2. Surgical Errors
Surgical errors are another leading cause of medical malpractice. These errors can range from operating on the wrong body part to leaving surgical instruments inside the patient. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses involved in the procedure must work in unison to ensure the safety and success of the surgery.
3. Medication Errors
Medication errors, which can occur during prescribing, dispensing, or administering drugs, are another significant cause of malpractice in hospitals. A doctor may prescribe the wrong medication or dosage, or a pharmacist might misread the prescription. Nurses administering medication can also make mistakes, such as giving the wrong drug or an incorrect dosage.
4. Failure to Treat
Even after a correct diagnosis, a failure to provide proper treatment can constitute medical malpractice. This may happen when a doctor discharges a patient too soon, fails to recommend appropriate follow-up care, or neglects to monitor a patient’s progress.
5. Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can occur due to medical negligence during prenatal care, labor, or delivery. Improper use of medical tools like forceps, failure to perform a timely C-section, or not monitoring the baby’s heart rate can lead to severe injuries to both the mother and the child. These injuries may result in lifelong disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy, making birth-related malpractice cases especially devastating.
6. Anesthesia Errors
Common anesthesia-related mistakes include administering too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor the patient during the procedure, or not properly assessing the patient’s medical history to account for possible adverse reactions. Anesthesia errors can result in brain damage, paralysis, or even death.
7. Infection and Lack of Sterilization
Hospitals are expected to maintain a sterile environment to prevent infections. However, lapses in cleanliness or improper sterilization of medical instruments can lead to hospital-acquired infections. Infections such as sepsis or staph can be life-threatening and are often preventable with proper hygiene and sanitation protocols. When hospitals fail to meet these standards, they may be held accountable for the harm caused.
8. Inadequate Staffing
Many hospitals struggle with staffing shortages, which can compromise patient care. Overworked and exhausted medical staff are more likely to make errors in judgment, diagnosis, or treatment. Nurses, in particular, may be assigned too many patients, leading to inadequate monitoring, missed medication doses, or delayed responses to patient needs. Understaffing can result in a lack of attention to detail and contribute to preventable mistakes.
9. Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Before performing a medical procedure, healthcare providers must obtain informed consent from the patient. This means that the patient must be fully informed about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the procedure and must voluntarily agree to proceed.
Injured In A Hospital Accident
Even though College Park has many good hospitals with reliable healthcare professionals that provide excellent care to their patients, there is still a need for a good College Park, MD Hospital accident lawyer to help people who have been injured in hospital accidents.
Is a hospital accident considered to be medical practice?
A hospital accident is typically considered to be a kind of medical malpractice. If you went to a hospital for a routine medical procedure, care or surgery, and wound up feeling worse and/or having problems that you did not before, this may be considered to be medical malpractice. If you have suffered from physical and/or emotional pain because of something “routine” that was not supposed to have significant side effects, there is a good chance that it will be considered medical malpractice. If you went to a doctor for a problem and they failed to diagnose a serious problem that should have been treated as soon as possible, it may be considered medical malpractice.
If you suspect that you or someone you love has been the victim of medical malpractice because of a College Park hospital accident that was caused by a negligent healthcare provider, it may be in your best interest to discuss your situation with a personal injury lawyer who has a track record of successfully defending MD injured people and their families.
What is medical malpractice?
According to the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys (ABPLA) medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient. The negligence might be the result of errors in diagnosis, treatment, aftercare or health management.
If a healthcare provider or a hospital at large fails to provide a patient with a standard of care that is acceptable to the medical field, they may be in need of a College Park, MD hospital accident lawyer who can help them to understand what their rights are.
Examples of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice can come in many different forms. The following are some common examples of medical malpractice that occurs in College Park hospitals:
- Failure to diagnose
- Misdiagnosis
- Surgical errors and wrong site surgery
- Unnecessary surgery
- Misreading or disregarding test results
- Wrong medication
- Incorrect dosage of medication
- Harmful drug interactions from failing to check a patient’s current medication regimen
- Premature discharge
- Insufficient aftercare
- Disregarding or not taking sufficient patient history
If you or someone you love has suffered from medical malpractice because of a College Park hospital accident, it may be in your best interest to discuss what your rights are with a reputable personal injury lawyer who knows how to defend hospital accident victims. The sooner you do this, the sooner your lawyer may be able to start protecting you.
Someone from the dedicated team at Cohen & Cohen is available to discuss your situation and to give you a free case evaluation. Call us any time of the day or night, any day of the year, to set up your free consultation.
For a highly rated College Park, MD hospital accident lawyer who has a track record of successfully defending the rights of injured people and their families, contact Cohen & Cohen, today.
