Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
What are common types of medical malpractice cases?
Birth Injuries
Medical malpractice during labor and delivery usually kills the baby or causes brain damage. This is one of the most serious and complex types of medical malpractice cases. Many babies who have suffered a birth injury are diagnosed with “hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.” This is brain damage from a lack of oxygen. Brain damage from a lack of oxygen often results in cerebral palsy. This is a type of brain damage that causes muscle weakness or impaired motor function. Many children victimized by a birth injury cannot walk or talk even when they grow up.
Doctors, hospitals, and their insurance companies have a cadre of medical doctors serving as expert witnesses all across the nation who testify for the defense. They manufacture excuses to try to fool unwitting jurors that the brain damage or death occurred before or after labor and were not the result of negligence during the delivery. They do this to help hospitals and doctors avoid responsibility for a catastrophic and preventable medical error. When the defense is successful, this leaves families without the resources they need to care for the baby or their families. Babies and their families suffering from a birth injury need competent and aggressive medical malpractice lawyers to handle their case.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia mistakes that cause brain damage and deaths account for some of the most serious medical malpractice cases that occur. The anesthesia care team, comprised of the attending anesthesiologist and advanced practice providers like CRNAs (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) and AAs (Anesthesia Assistants) must safely administer anesthesia such that patients can always breathe. Anesthesia providers must always anticipate and prepare for anesthesia emergencies so they can respond quickly to avoid causing permanent injury to the patient. When brain damage, deaths, or other injuries occur due to anesthesia, there is often a preventable medical error.
Diagnostic Errors
Diagnostic errors occur when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient correctly and timely treat the patient. The common medical malpractice case occurs in this setting when a patient has “textbook” signs and symptoms of a condition, and the doctor fails to make (or treat) the condition. Of course, the passage of time makes the patient worse. These delays can cause serious permanent injuries and/or death. Common types of “failure to diagnose” medical malpractice cases include failing to timely diagnose and treat heart attacks, strokes, aortic dissections, brain infections, compression of the spinal cord, and cancer. Diagnostic errors account for some of the most common types of medical malpractice cases that exist.
Medication Errors
Doctors and hospital (through their pharmacists and nurses) must provide the “right medication, to the right patient, in the right dose, at the right time, via the right dose.” Healthcare providers know this as the “5 Rights of Medication Administration.” When healthcare providers fail to follow these fundamental and basic standards of care for medication administration, people can suffer enormous catastrophic and permanent harm. Patients can suffer a medication error when they receive an enormously large dose of a medication. Healthcare providers must administer some medications through a large vessel known as a central line. When healthcare providers administer a dangerous, “high-alert” medication through a small vessel in the arm or hand, it can cause an IV infiltration injury. This causes permanent life-altering injuries to the arm and hand. These medication errors can and should be prevented, but they happen too often.
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors occur for a number of reasons. But a surgeon must recognize those errors and fix the injury during the surgery before the patient is closed up. In some cases, doctors fail to recognize the injury during the surgery. Then, nurses fail to report the patient’s worsening symptoms after the surgery to doctors. These delays can lead to infections and/or death. In cases where a surgeon fails to properly conduct their surgery, a patient or their family may be able to sue for medical malpractice.
Talk to an Atlanta, Georgia Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
The Moses Law Firm represents the interests of Atlanta plaintiffs who have been injured due to the negligent practice of medicine. Call our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers today to schedule a free consultation and we can begin discussing your options immediately.
