When you feel sick, you see a doctor and trust that he’ll provide you with the proper treatment, so you get well. However, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals sometimes make mistakes. Even small, unintentional errors can result in patients developing life-altering injuries or diseases. Sometimes these mistakes can cause a patient’s death.
4 Types of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice results when a doctor or medical care provider fails to use reasonable care or acts in a way that causes harm to a patient. It is important to remember that not every error made by medical professional is a mistake of malpractice, and there must be evidence of negligence. Medical malpractice can come in a variety of forms, including:
Misdiagnosis.
Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are very common ways that doctors commit malpractice, and both can have devastating consequences for patients. When medical conditions are not diagnosed promptly, a disease such as cancer can develop into a much more serious or life-threatening condition.
Birth injuries.
Medical mistakes can be made during pregnancy or when a baby is delivered. These mistakes can include failing to diagnose a mother’s medical condition or disease that affects the fetus, not identifying birth defects, and failing to respond to signs of fetal distress during delivery. Newborns can suffer catastrophic injuries such as cerebral palsy, seizures, and Erb’s Palsy.
