Common Types of Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice: Misdiagnosis

On occasion, a physician may fail to identify and diagnose a medical condition that a competent physician would have recognized. This misdiagnosis can lead to the condition progressing to a more severe stage, necessitating more extensive treatment and causing the patient more agony and distress.

Indeed, a misdiagnosis could lead to the prescription of treatments that are not appropriate for the patient, also potentially resulting in harm. The key to such a case is showing what the treating doctor did wrong and how a competent doctor should have gone about diagnosing the condition. If a reasonably skillful and competent doctor would not have made the same mistake under the same circumstances, then the treating doctor may be liable for malpractice.

In the case of a severe ailment like cancer, an erroneous or delayed diagnosis could result in the patient’s demise. To pursue this type of claim, the plaintiff would be required to present expert testimony from a physician who can clarify why a capable physician treating a similar patient would have accurately identified or identified the ailment sooner.

Furthermore, an expert must explain how the error or delay impacted the patient’s health.

The first step after admittance to a hospital, medical clinic, emergency room, dental office or any other professional medical establishment is diagnosis. Correctly diagnosing symptoms is critical to proving medical care to any patient, however sometimes an error in diagnosis can occur in cases where symptoms may not be readily apparent or telling.

Common types of misdiagnosis include:

• Failure to Diagnose Cancer
• Misdiagnosis of Symptoms of Impending Heart Attack
• Misdiagnosis of Stroke
• Failure to Recognize DVT and Pulmonary Embolism
• Misdiagnosis of Diabetes
• Failure to Recognize Meningitis
• Failure to Diagnose Appendicitis

If a patient is not treated properly due to a mistake in diagnosis, the doctor may be held liable for any further injury or damages.

Medical Malpractice: Surgical Errors & Anesthesia Errors

Many of the most obvious incidents of malpractice occur during surgical procedures. Some types of surgical errors are known as “never events,” which means that the medical profession acknowledges that these errors should never occur.

A patient may not need expert testimony in these cases because the negligence is obvious.

Surgical Errors

Medical Malpractice: Medication Errors

Medication errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice and can occur many ways. For example, a doctor might make a mistake on the initial prescription, administer a drug inappropriately, or fail to take notice of a potentially harmful drug interaction. In a hospital setting, one common form of injury results from the wrong medication being given to the wrong patient. However, the most common medication errors, by far, involve improper dosage.

Medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and others, can be held accountable for errors in prescribing or administering medication.

Liability for prescription mistakes during the prescription process typically falls on the doctor, while liability for mistakes during administration generally falls on the nurse and the hospital that employs them.

Prescription mistakes can sometimes be linked to a misdiagnosis, as doctors may prescribe medication for an incorrectly diagnosed condition.

Other instances involve prescribing an incorrect dosage or administering the wrong amount of medication. Furthermore, nurses may inadvertently confuse patients and give medication intended for one patient to another.

In some cases, equipment in the hospital may be defective and administer an inappropriate dose, leading to medical errors.

Medical Malpractice: Birth Injuries

Medical professionals involved in the childbirth process, such as gynecologists, obstetricians, and others, may cause permanent harm to newborns if they fail to meet the professional standard of care.

While some conditions that result from malpractice may have innocent causes, others, such as cerebral palsy, paralysis, nerve damage, developmental disorders, and fractures, can be linked to medical negligence.

Inadequate care or treatment before childbirth can also harm the mother and child, such as a failure to diagnose a medical condition or birth defect.

Additionally, errors during the delivery process can cause birth injuries. Examples include a physician’s failure to order a necessary cesarean section, inability to handle complications competently, or incorrect use of equipment like forceps.

Medical Negligence and C-Sections

A cesarean section (c-section) is often a requirement to preserve the health of the baby in cases of fetal distress. Commonly the baby will show signs of fetal distress, such as a lack of oxygen to the brain and reduced heart beat, and a c-section must be administered immediately to prevent injury to the fetal brain.

If the medical staff fails to perform the c-section in time, delaying the procedure in hopes of delivering the baby normally, that decision may lead to permanent brain damage to the baby.

Mistreatment of Difficult Birth

During difficult births, the medical staff may have to use methods for forcing the extraction of the child. Usually a combination of forceps and suction will be used to force the child out of it’s mother. One of the risks associated with forced extraction is that any improper, or negligent handling of the process can cause permanent injuries to the baby, especially nerve damage such as brachial plexus injury.

Complications with Induced Labor

Many times, doctors and medical staff will attempt to speed up a delivery, or avoid a c-section by inducing labor. Oxytocin (common brand used is called Pitocin) is administered to expedite the delivery of the child, but this drug may have side-effects if not monitored carefully.

In cases where fetal distress is detected, such as a prolapsed umbilical cord, it is critical that the administration of pitocin be ceased immediately, and a c-section be considered. In these cases, the doctor has precious few minutes to judge the situation and decide on the best course of action to prevent serious permanent injury to the new born baby.

A number of injuries can be caused by medical malpractice to a fetus during pregnancy or to a child during the birth process. Some of these injuries can be quite severe, such as brain injuries (like cerebral palsy and seizure disorders), fractured bones, and full or partial paralysis. Of course, many of these are caused by natural causes, as well. Nevertheless, if a doctor’s negligence caused these conditions or the doctor failed to take steps to treat a condition that could lead to these conditions, medical malpractice may have occurred.

These injuries can arise at a number of different junctures. If negligent medical treatment is provided during the pregnancy, it could harm the fetus, the mother, or both. Examples of negligent prenatal care include failing to diagnose a medical condition of the mother (like preclampsia, Rh incompatibility, hypoglycemia, anemia, or gestational diabetes), failing to identify birth defects, failing to identify ectopic pregnancies, or failing to diagnose a disease that could be contagious to the mother’s fetus (like herpes, HIV, or lupus). If the negligence occurs during childbirth, it may be as a result of failing to anticipate birth complications due to the baby’s size, failing to note that the umbilical cord has become tangled around the baby, failing to respond to signs of fetal distress, failing to administer a cesarean when needed, or improperly using forceps or a vacuum extractor.