When you seek medical care, you trust doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to act competently and professionally. Unfortunately, medical errors can and do happen—sometimes with devastating consequences. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional’s negligence leads to injury, illness, or even death.
Mistakes such as misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, or failure to provide proper treatment can cause significant harm to patients. In these cases, victims and their families may have the right to seek compensation for their financial, physical, and emotional losses.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
Medical malpractice can take many forms, but all involve a healthcare provider failing to meet the most basic standard of care. Some of the most common examples of medical malpractice include the following:
Surgical Mistakes
Errors during surgery can have life-threatening consequences. Surgeons may operate on the wrong body part, leave surgical instruments inside a patient, or make anesthesia errors that cause serious complications. Post-surgical negligence, such as failing to prevent infections, can also lead to malpractice claims.
Missed Diagnosis
A missed diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to recognize a serious medical condition, leading to delayed or incorrect treatment. This can happen with conditions like cancer, heart attacks, or strokes, where early detection is critical for successful treatment.
Delayed Diagnosis
In some cases, a doctor may eventually diagnose a condition, but only after an unreasonable delay. If the delay causes the patient’s condition to worsen, the healthcare provider may be held responsible for failing to act in a timely manner.
Failure to Treat
Even when a correct diagnosis is made, doctors can still commit malpractice by failing to provide the appropriate treatment. This can happen due to hospital overcrowding, premature patient discharge, or failure to refer a patient to a specialist.
Birth Injuries
Medical errors during pregnancy, labor, or delivery can result in serious birth injuries. Conditions like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and brain damage can occur due to improper use of forceps, failure to monitor fetal distress, or failure to perform a necessary C-section.
Compensation for a Medical Malpractice Claim
Victims of medical malpractice may be entitled to compensation for the damages they have suffered. The types of compensation available in a medical malpractice claim include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death damages
- Punitive damages
Recovering fair compensation often requires strong legal representation. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help victims build a strong case and fight for the maximum compensation they deserve.
Call Coleman Lynch & Partners, PLLC, Today About Your Medical Malpractice Claim
There are few things in life more distressing than suffering avoidable medical complications due to the carelessness of a doctor or nurse that you trust. When medical malpractice happens, the team at Coleman Lynch & Partners, PLLC, is here to help. Call today to learn more.