Education

What Are Six Types of Medical Malpractice?

Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is a complex field, which can be difficult to navigate and hold liable parties responsible for their actions. Simply identifying what constitutes medical malpractice can sometimes be difficult. Doctors are human beings in high-stress jobs, so normal mistakes and negligence can sometimes be difficult to differentiate.

Medical malpractice can leave a huge mark on your life, which is why it is so important to identify it and seek compensation if you find it. Medical malpractice can cover many types of actions that a careless doctor may take.

1. Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis includes any type of failure on the doctor’s part to appropriately test and diagnose your condition. While misdiagnosis can happen in good faith, if your doctor fails to exhaust all options for testing and diagnosis, they may provide a misdiagnosis because of this failure. It is crucial to determine whether they have mistakenly treated you for a condition you do not have.

Keep in mind that negligence is a key part of this. A misdiagnosis can happen at any time, especially because many medical conditions have similar symptom profiles, making it difficult to determine which treatment is best for you. Note that your medical malpractice claim is only valid if the misdiagnosis happened due to negligence on the doctor’s part.

2. Delayed Diagnosis

When doctors delay or postpone diagnosis, even though they should have had all the information needed to diagnose you, it can lead to a lawsuit. Delayed diagnosis can lead to worsening conditions that can make it more difficult to recover. When a doctor fails to diagnose in a timely manner, it can allow your disease to progress or your personal injuries to worsen.

3. Failure to Treat

In some cases, the doctor may have been aware of the condition, but they may have failed to treat it appropriately. For example, you may have been accurately diagnosed with a specific condition, only for your doctor to refuse to offer you the medication you need. This can also cause delays in treatment and worsening conditions.

4. Surgical Errors

When doctors make mistakes in surgery, it can be devastating or even deadly. Common surgical errors include surgical tools left in the body cavity, amputation of a healthy limb, and operation on a healthy part of the body. These mistakes can cost you healthy tissue or parts and can lead to longer, more traumatic treatment.

5. Birth Injuries

Childbirth is already a difficult, painful process, and it can be tough to navigate safely. However, you should be able to rely on a medical professional to handle these situations appropriately. Unfortunately, birth injuries such as nerve injuries, hematomas, and bone fractures for the baby and parent can all happen when a doctor is negligent.

Birth injuries can be especially difficult on families because it is not only the patient but also their child who was hurt. These specific types of claims can have a lasting impact on the family, both physically and emotionally. When this happens, you may need to seek help through an attorney to overcome your losses.

6. Medical Product Liability

In some cases, it may not have been your doctor who harmed you but the medical product they used. For example, they may have used a surgical mesh during your surgery, only for that mesh to fail sometime after your surgery. When a product fails like this, it may be the fault of the manufacturer who created a faulty product.

Be Aware of The Types of Medical Malpractice Today

When looking at the different types of medical malpractice, be sure to look at what happened and any documentation that can prove your point.

You can stay informed by safeguarding your rights and getting in touch with a trusted Philadelphia personal injury attorney that can help you in your medical malpractice case.

By hiring a lawyer that specializes in these types of cases, you can have the best possible chance of getting the maximum compensation that you deserve.