MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Medical malpractice is the result of a health care provider’s failure to provide the expected standard of care. Doctors who cause harm through their mistakes, ignorance, negligence, lack of skill and misdiagnosis may be found liable to harmed patients in the form of monetary damages.
The medical profession brings health and hope to millions of Americans every day; however far too many are injured or killed due to medical mistakes. In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report estimating that as many as 98,000 patients die each year as a result of medical errors in hospitals. Compound this number with the unreported mistakes made in other healthcare settings (physicians’ offices, urgent care centers, nursing homes, pharmacies and home care) and the magnitude of medical malpractice becomes staggering. In addition to the high-costs of medical mistakes in terms of lives and quality of life, our nation pays an estimated $17 billion per year in costs due to preventable errors. As a general rule only a small percentage of malpractice is ever reported or results in a lawsuit.
In legal terms, healthcare professionals are only required to give a standard of care that is ordinary or normal in relation to similarly situated professionals. When a physician is determined to be negligent, it means that he or she has failed to use the same degree of skill and learning, under the same or similar circumstances, that are used by other members of the medical profession. Some of the most common ways that medical malpractice occurs is through failure or errors in timely diagnosis and ordering appropriate treatment, ordering necessary tests and proper medication, consulting with specialists and surgical procedures.
Although there are all types of malpractice claims, the leading types of malpractice claims include:
- Surgical Errors;
- Failure to treat.
- Nursing errors;
- Birth defects or injuries
- Hospital, physician, and nursing negligence
- Misdiagnosis
- Nursing home injuries and elder abuse
- Pharmaceutical errors
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If the medical provider is found negligent and you successful prove your malpractice case, then you are entitled to recover “damages.” Damages are intended to help you return to the condition you were in prior to the injury. There are several forms of damages that you may recover in a medical malpractice award - economic (for lost wages or medical expenses), non-economic (for pain and suffering), or punitive (to punish reckless behavior) damages. You may also receive compensation for future medical expenses and loss of future earnings. Punitive damages occur only in rare cases when it is proved that the medical practitioner had malicious intent. Medical malpractice claims are one of the most difficult areas of litigation, since the negligent action must be documented and proven within specific guidelines. Therefore, it is important to seek counsel for adequate representation in a malpractice case. |
