What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice refers to cases where a medical professional’s negligence results in substandard treatment, causing harm, injury, or death to the patient. Medical malpractice comes in many forms and can occur during treatment. To qualify as a legal issue, the medical professional must have acted incompetently, resulting in injury or death.
What Are Examples Of Medical Malpractice?
Examples of medical malpractice include:
Misdiagnosis
One of the most common types of medical malpractice is misdiagnosis. A medical malpractice claim of misdiagnosis can include:
- Missed diagnosis. The physical failed to recognize signs and symptoms of a medical condition.
- Wrong diagnosis. A physician incorrectly diagnoses a patient. This can result in no treatment or inappropriate treatment.
- Delayed diagnosis. A physician fails to diagnose a medical condition promptly, resulting in the condition worsening. A delayed diagnosis can make the condition difficult to treat.
- Over-diagnosis. An over-diagnosis involves a medical professional diagnosing a patient with a condition they don’t have. This may lead to unnecessary testing or treatment.
Surgical Error
A surgical error is a mistake that’s made by a medical professional during an operation.
Examples of surgical mistakes include:
- Causing nerve damage
- Performing the wrong procedure
- Amputating the wrong limb or digit
- Leaving a surgical instrument inside the patient’s body
Medication Errors
An error involving a medication can take several forms.
Examples of medication errors can include:
- Prescribing a medication that interacts with another medication the patient is currently taking
- A delay in the administration of critical medication
- Administering medication using the incorrect route
- Mislabeling medication
- Failing to adjust the dosage of medication for a patient with hepatic or renal impairment
- Administering the incorrect dose of medication
- Dispensing the wrong medication
Anesthesia Errors
The use of anesthesia allows a patient to undergo surgery pain-free and unaware of the procedure as it’s happening.
Anesthesia errors can include:
- Failing to track the vital signs of a patient when they are receiving anesthesia
- Administering too little or too much anesthesia
- Inadequate monitoring of the patient’s consciousness when sedated, resulting in the patient’s awareness under anesthesia
- Delayed recognition of complications while the patient is receiving medication
- Failure to maintain airway during anesthesia or to intubate a patient during anesthesia
- Administering the wrong dosage of anesthesia or the wrong type of anesthesia
- Failure to communicate with the patient concerning the benefits and risks of anesthesia
Childbirth Mistakes
Examples of medical malpractice involving childbirth include:
- Improper use or delayed order of a C-section
- Medication misuse
- Failure to monitor for fetal distress
- Incorrect use of vacuum extraction or forceps
- Failure to diagnose or treat an infection in the infant or mother
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