Top Causes of Medical Malpractice

Most interactions with doctors are helpful; after all most physicians are caring, competent health professionals. Mistakes can happen though including misdiagnosis when symptoms are misunderstood, when the wrong medicine is prescribed or a primary doctor fails to refer a patient to a specialist despite a set of symptoms. While less than one percent of hospital patients become victims of medical malpractice, 25,000 to 120,000 Americans dies because of medical negligence each year.

When a doctor is negligent he or she has failed to meet their “duty of care.” This means that they have acted in a way inconsistent with how other medical professionals would have acted under similar circumstances. Medical malpractice may have occurred if the patient was injured as a result.

What are the top causes of medical malpractice?

The most common cause of medical malpractice is a communication error between members on a medical team. For example, communication errors can occur with doctors changing shifts at a hospital, between nurses and doctors or between the surgeon and the surgical team.

In some cases, hospitals and other health care centers are the cause of medical malpractice. When a health care facility fails to properly maintain its medical equipment, hire qualified staff, train their staff appropriately or clean their environment properly they may be held responsible for injuries that occur as a result. Thankfully, most health care facilities have procedures and systems in place to reduce or eliminate human errors including double checking the site of the surgery before proceeding.

Most common types of medical malpractice claims

Medical malpractice claims are usually filed for the following causes:

Surgical errors – surgical errors account for 1/3 of all medical malpractice cases brought by inpatients. The most common types of surgical errors are wrong-site surgery, wrong-patient surgery, unsanitary surgical tools, organ damage and nerve damage. In some cases surgical errors are preventable mistakes or wrongdoing caused by negligence and in other instances they are simply unfortunate outcomes.

Anesthesia errors – when a patient undergoes surgery they are generally sedated under the care of an anesthesiologist. Because anesthesia can have an unexpected reaction in the patient it is up to the anesthesiologist to read up on the patient’s medical history and monitor the patient’s vital signs while they are in surgery.

Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose – misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose typically happens in outpatient situations. When a physician fails to recognize the signs of cancer or heart disease, for example, treatment is delayed or denied which can have life threatening consequences for the patient.

Birth injuries – Approximately 20 percent of all medical malpractice cases are filed against OBGYNs for birth injuries to the mother or infant, wrongful birth (when a serious birth defect is not disclosed) or wrongful pregnancy (when a termination fails). OBGYNs face more medical malpractice claims than any other type of physician.

Medication errors – medication errors cause more than 1.5 million injuries in the U.S. annually. The most common medication error is wrong dosage. Other medication errors include prescribing the wrong medicine for the diagnosis or prescribing the right medication for the wrong diagnosis. Pharmacists may be held responsible for injuries if they fail to warn patients of possible dangerous side effects or account for how the new medication will interfere with a patient’s current medication.

If you believe that you were seriously injured as the result of a medical provider’s negligence, contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer today.

The Seattle personal injury attorneys at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC have years of experience representing families harmed by medical malpractice. We seek justice for patients who have been harmed by preventable medical errors including birth injuries, hospital-acquired infections and wrongful death in Seattle and across Washington State. There are no fees or expenses to file a personal injury case as we only receive payment if we recover damages on your behalf. Do not delay; personal injury claims come with a Statute of Limitations, which means they must be filed within a certain time frame of the injury.

Call us now at (206) 752-4366 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with one of our compassionate, experienced attorneys.