Every year, medical malpractice is a serious problem for thousands of people across the country. The procedure occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide a patient with standard quality care that results in injury or harm to the patient.
Medical malpractice can occur in any healthcare facility by any type of medical personnel which may include doctors, nurses, hospital workers, dentists, ophthalmologists, surgeons, etc. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) noted that “each year in the United States there were 12,000 patient deaths due to unnecessary surgery, 7,000 deaths due to medication errors in hospitals, and 20,000 deaths due to due to other errors in the hospitals.’ The Journal of the American Association for Justice stated that a decade ago “some 98,000 people died each year from preventable medical errors, costing the nation some $29 billion.”
That can be the result of various types of errors, such as anesthesia errors, birth errors, defective medications or products, medical experimentation, improper diagnosis, medication errors, nursing home abuse, surgical errors, wrongful death, not taking appropriate medical measures and much more.
Medical negligence can negatively affect all aspects of a person’s life, from physical and emotional harm to severe financial hardship. Such difficulties may include:
– Loss of work
– Loss of wages
– Permanent disability
– Loss of Quality of Life
– Loss of future wages
– Very high medical expenses
– Long-term or lifetime medical expenses
– Chronic pain
– Disfigurement
– Emotional trauma
When a death occurs as a result of negligence or other liability, surviving dependents or beneficiaries may be entitled to money damages to help pay for medical costs and other expenses incurred by the victim’s family.
“Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people each year,” says a new report from the National Academies Institute of Medicine. The report also reported that “additional medical costs of treating drug-related injuries that occur in hospitals alone amount conservatively to $3.5 billion a year.” These costs have resulted in an increase in health insurance premiums.
Even after receiving enough information from patients, medical professionals can still make an incorrect diagnosis that results in personal injury or death. If you believe you have suffered an injury as a result of a medical error, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim. The best way to determine if you have a claim is to consult with an attorney who specializes in this claim.
If medical negligence has been confirmed, you will still need to prove that it resulted in injury or damage. If an attorney has shown injury or damage, then you may be compensated for:
– Medical Expenses (Current and Future)
– Rehabilitation
– Pain and suffering
– Devices and Special Health Care Equipment
– Care and assistance at home
– Lost wages (present and future)
– Travel expenses
– Punitive damages
It is often difficult to know if you need a medical malpractice lawyer. When you file a claim, your health care provider’s insurance company may try to compensate you for the least amount possible. If you believe you are a victim of negligence, consulting with a lawyer who specializes in negligence will help determine if there is a case. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you recover compensation for many different types of losses due to the negligence of another person working in the health care field.