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Although doctors are highly trained and they do their best to ensure the best outcomes for their patients, medical errors still happen. While some of the errors are accidents, some of them are caused by negligence. If this is the case, you have the option of suing for medical malpractice. But, what types of medical malpractice can you get compensated for?
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis is a very common type of medical malpractice. It happens when a doctor diagnoses the wrong illness or condition. In these cases, the doctor might say the patient is not sick or may diagnose them with something they do not have.
Misdiagnoses are serious because the illness or condition the patient has gets worse while they take the wrong medication. Misdiagnosis is proved if the doctor failed to diagnose the disease within reason and a similarly skilled doctor would not have offered that diagnosis.
Surgical and Anesthesia Errors
A lot can go wrong during surgery. In many cases, surgical errors are easy to prove. For example, it is easy to prove that a doctor operated on the wrong patient or on the wrong part of the body. Anesthesia errors, on the other hand, are a lot harder to prove. While mistakes during the administration of anesthesia can lead to brain injuries or death, you will likely need a witness to make your case.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are one of the most devastating types of medical malpractice. This is not only because of the heartbreak they cause but because of the long-term effects on the mother and baby. Some of the common types of birth injury malpractice include inadequate prenatal care, negligence during birth, and wrongful death during or after birth.
If the injuries or death were preventable, it is likely that a medical professional did something wrong. In these cases, you can sue on grounds of medical malpractice.
Prescription Errors
Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists can be liable for offering the wrong medication to their patients. The doctor is liable due to a prescription, nurses due to the administration of the wrong medication, and pharmacists due to a mix-up when handing out medications. Medication errors can also happen if the machine in use at a healthcare facility is defective and administers the wrong amount of medication.
Failure To Treat
A doctor may diagnose the right illness or condition but fail to chart a proper course of treatment for a patient. In that case, that is malpractice known as failure to treat.
Failure to treat often happens in facilities where doctors treat too many patients at once. It can also happen if a healthcare facility is understaffed or where the physicians are overworked. They can also happen where a doctor does not refer a patient to a specialist.
Conclusion
Medical malpractice is a serious issue, especially when it results in life-changing injuries. While doctors and other healthcare professionals are given some leeway to the mistakes they can make, mistakes that are born out of negligence constitute medical malpractice. In these cases, you are within your right to claim compensation.
