4 Legitimate Reasons To File A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
by Lawrence Miller
If you have suffered an injury because of the negligence of your medical provider, you may be able to obtain compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. Nevertheless, only 7 percent of malpractice cases make it to trial. The remaining 93 percent are resolved out of court. Here are a few instances that would be considered medical malpractice:
Unusual Injury
A healthcare provider may be sued for patient injuries that are directly related to medical negligence. Negligence would include instances where your doctor does not use appropriate safeguards, such as verifying your identity or ensuring that sterile tools are used. For instance, if you have surgery and you are injured because a surgical tool is inadvertently left inside your abdominal cavity, the cause of your injury could duly be considered negligence. In a 2006 study performed by the New England Journal of Medicine, over 1400 resolved cases of medical malpractice were reviewed. Of those cases, 17 percent of the defendants were general surgeons. For inpatient incidents in general, surgical errors accounted for approximately 34 percent of medical malpractice claims.
Medical Equipment Issues
Hospital staff where you are treated are required to maintain their medical tools and facility properly. Injuries can be caused by tools that are not sterilized effectively or by a lack of appropriate medical devices. Nevertheless, a 2012 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicated that hospitals only reported treatment errors concerning Medicare patients in 14 percent of the cases.
No Consent
Before your doctor performs a risky procedure on you, he or she must obtain your permission. In addition, he or she must inform you of a potentially negative outcome. At the time that you give consent, you must be old enough to legally provide it, or the consent is not valid.
Unconventional Treatment
Your doctor is expected to provide care that would normally be prescribed for your medical condition. However, if your physician decides to try an unconventional method of treatment, he or she may be liable for a poor outcome.
Medical malpractice does occur. In 2012, 3.6 billion dollars were paid for medical malpractice cases. Still, a 2007 study indicated that injured patients tended to wait about 1 year and 4 months before filing a lawsuit. If you believe that you have been the victim of medical negligence, don't delay. Consult with a professional medical malpractice attorney, likeR.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C., today to find out if you should pursue legal action.
Share
About Me
What kind of injuries can you hold someone liable for? How severe do the injuries have to be? When my husband was injured by a faulty saw, we weren't sure what we were going to do. At that time, we didn't have any health insurance and had to try to come up with the money for emergency and long-term medial treatment. This created an impossible time for my family. My husband was out of work and we had medical bills piling up because a product that we paid a lot of money for malfunctioned and injured my husband. So, what can you do when this happens? Read through my blog.