What are the most common forms of medical malpractice?
A sometimes unavoidable part of life in Ohio involves seeking medical attention. Understandably, you expect medical professionals to use their knowledge and equipment to properly diagnose and treat your ailment. Unfortunately, medical professionals sometimes make mistakes that can lead to an injury or negative outcome.
Medication and treatment errors
These errors happen when someone prescribes the wrong medication, outdated medicine or doesn't prescribe what a patient needs. Releasing a patient from care too early, not recognizing a patient's medication-related addictions and committing surgical errors all fall under the umbrella of medication and treatment errors.
Failure to diagnose or misdiagnoses
Research shows that eight out of 10 medical malpractice claims relate to
failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis. This situation can happen when physicians diagnose a patient with the wrong disease or recognize one condition but miss other ones.
Wrongful death
In extreme cases,
medical malpractice can result in a patient's death. Wrongful deaths can happen when medical employees use defective or outdated equipment. This dangerous situation can also occur if someone prescribes medication that aggravates a patient's condition, resulting in death.
Unfortunately, medical malpractice isn't limited to just adults. Birth defects can be caused by genetics and environmental factors. However, about 40% of claims involving birth injuries are due to poor management of a patient's labor and delivery processes. Other birth injury claims can include failure to prepare for complications, negligent post-birth care or not calling for a C-section when necessary.
If you suspect that you're the victim of medical malpractice, gather as much evidence as possible. Reports, prescription records and other medical documents serve to document instances of malpractice, which could help you obtain compensation for damages.