People tend to put a lot of trust in doctors. That’s understandable. Doctors, nurses, surgeons and others in the healthcare industry are supposed to be extremely knowledgeable and skilled. We put our lives in their hands a good deal of the time.
Unfortunately, in some sad cases, that trust is broken. While not every bad result in the scope of medical care is medical malpractice, medical malpractice is real and does happen. Below are five examples of when launching a medical malpractice lawsuit would be justified.
You Were Seriously Injured During a Routine Medical Procedure
According to statistics, abnormal injuries that result from medical procedures account for about 31 percent of medical malpractice lawsuits. This would be an unexpected injury that resulted from care that had nothing to do with the condition that was treated. If you have such an injury, consider contacting personal injury lawyers to review your case.
Your Child Was Injured During Delivery
Another large category of medical malpractice injuries concern injuries sustained during childbirth. These can be especially heartbreaking because they can result in permanent disability for the child. If your child was injured during delivery at a hospital or clinic, investigate your options for obtaining compensation.
Your Illness Was Misdiagnosed
We also tend to trust that doctors have the knowledge necessary to correctly diagnose an illness. Sadly, a misdiagnosis could also be a form of medical malpractice. If you were not correctly diagnosed, you may have not been treated for the correct illness you were suffering from. This can lead to debilitating injury, disability or even death.
Your Prescription Was Incorrect
Many drugs require a prescription because they are dangerous. If you were prescribed the wrong drug or the wrong dosage for a specific drug, you could be severely injured. If that is true for your case, either the doctor or the pharmacist may have committed medical malpractice.
Your Surgery Went Horribly Wrong
Surgeries can be especially scary for patients. Surgeons need to take care to not make mistakes when performing these risky procedures. If something went horribly wrong during surgery, medical malpractice may have occurred. This sometimes happens when surgical tools are left inside the body or the wrong body part is operated on.
We trust doctors and other medical professionals with our lives. Sadly, sometimes medical malpractice does occur. If you believe you were the victim of a negligent medical professional, contact an attorney to discuss your options for seeking compensation in court.
About the Author: Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She went to college at The Ohio State University where she studied communications. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and long walks in the park with her husky Snowball. You can find her on Twitter at @LizzieWeakley and on Facebook at facebook.com/lizzie.weakley.
