Any time you go to a doctor’s office, you want to make sure that your care provider is qualified. This is especially true when there is something seriously wrong and you are seeking answers. Unfortunately, doctors are humans too, and they may make mistakes regarding a number of things when it comes to their patients. At Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP, our Cleveland medical malpractice attorneys want to make sure our potential clients understand hospital errors, the most common types, how frequently errors occur, and what they can do.
Medical Malpractice Types
Medical malpractice can arise in a number of ways and these claims don’t always involve the doctor. The type of error will often determine who is liable for the injury. Before you file a claim, you must know what kind of acts are considered medical malpractice. The most common types of medical malpractice include:
- Surgical Errors
- Emergency Room Errors
- Anesthesia Errors
- Missed Diagnosis
- Misdiagnosis
- Failure to Perform Tests
If a doctor or other medical professional fails to abide by the standard of care to which they are expected, they can cause even more harm to a person already dealing with a condition. There are other types of medical malpractice, such as if a hospital fails to check a doctor’s background for proper training, certification, or history of malpractice prior to hiring. If you or a loved one suffered harm because of a hospital error, or a healthcare professional’s error, we invite you to contact our firm. We are prepared to handle any type of medical malpractice claim for those who have been wronged.
Statistics of Claims
Becker’s Hospital Review conducted a study in 2012 regarding medical malpractice statistics. One of the statistics they analyzed was the type of allegations made in these claims. They broke down the numbers based on what type of error the individual feels occurred. The results were as follows:
- 33% of claims associated with diagnosis errors
- 24% of claims associated with surgical errors
- 18% of claims associated with treatment errors
- 11% of claims associated with obstetric errors
- 4% of claims associated with medication errors
- 3% of claims associated with monitoring errors
- 3% of claims associated with anesthesia errors
- 4% of claims associated with other errors
What Can I Do?
After you have experienced medical malpractice, you need to understand what steps to take. First, you need to make sure that you can show the doctor owed you a duty of care, that duty of care was breached, and the breach of duty caused the injury. You must also know who can be held responsible for the error in the first place. This may include the anesthesiologist, surgeon, lab technician, or even the facility itself.
Medical malpractice is a serious issue and associated legal matters should be treated as such. Our firm offers the utmost respect during these difficult times and we want to make sure you understand which steps to take next. Call us to discuss your potential case in a free consultation.
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