There are many different ways in which patients can suffer injuries due to healthcare provider negligence, and in some situations, those injuries can be fatal. It is important to understand that an unwanted outcome from a medical procedure does not necessarily mean that a healthcare provider was negligent or failed to perform a procedure using a high level of care and skill. To be sure, some types of procedures come with risks, and a physician or surgeon might do everything as carefully as possible, but the patient might still get hurt. In many cases, however, patient injuries do result from medical malpractice.
What are some of the most common types of medical malpractice claims in South Florida? Consider the following information from our Boca Raton medical malpractice attorneys.
Medication Mistake Claims
Medication errors are some of the most common types of mistakes made by healthcare providers. These types of errors can occur at many different points in a patient’s relationship with a healthcare provider. For example, a physician might prescribe the wrong medication to the patient or might prescribe the wrong dosage of a drug. Or, similarly, a physician might fail to consider a patient’s medical history and may prescribe a drug that the patient has listed as an allergy concern. At other points in the healthcare process, a pharmacist might fill the wrong medication or the wrong dosage of a drug, or might provide a patient with inaccurate information about safety while taking the medicine. According to the Mayo Clinic, medication mistakes result in hundreds of thousands of injuries annually in the U.S. alone.
Surgical Error Lawsuits
Surgical mistakes are commonly known as “never events” because they should never happen, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Surgical errors can include operating on the wrong patient, operating on the wrong body part (such as a left eye instead of a right eye), or leaving an object inside a patient after a surgical procedure (such as a sponge or towel).
Diagnostic Error Claims
Diagnostic mistakes can be serious and even deadly, and a patient might not realize that a diagnostic error has occurred until it is too late and that patient receives an accurate diagnosis. Diagnostic errors can include a delayed diagnosis or a missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Many different types of healthcare providers may be responsible for this type of error, from the physician or specialist who makes a diagnosis to a pathologist or laboratory technician who negligently processes a sample.
Contact a Boca Raton Medical Malpractice Attorney Today
Were you harmed after undergoing a routine medical procedure, or did you or a loved one suffer significant harm because of a delayed diagnosis? If you were injured because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, or if you lost a loved one because of a doctor’s mistake, you should seek advice from a South Florida medical malpractice attorney about filing a claim for financial compensation. Do not hesitate to get in touch with our firm to find out more about how we can assist you with a personal injury case. Contact Lesser Lesser Landy & Smith PLLC to learn more about our services.
Source:
psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/never-events
