It's killing more than traffic accidents - It's beyond injury and beyond AIDS or breast cancer but nobody's talking about it - and it's happening in our hospitals. A 1999 report from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 100,000 people are dying each year, from medical mistakes..

But what makes a mistake ?

It's sometimes called Medical Negligence and it happens when an injury or death occurs as the direct result of a failure by a physician or other health care provider - It might be a hospital, nurse, obstetrician, nursing home, anesthesiologist or even a pharmacist - Some medical professional fails to properly treat a medical condition. The injury or death caused by the negligence may be either a new condition or an aggravated injury to the patient. Naturally, a doctor cannot be held responsible if the underlying medical problem was the cause of the death or injury or if they were doing their very best to treat it but...

A wide range of situations result in medical negligence but it is important to remember that not all medical situations that end badly are the cause of malpractice. Some examples of situations that may be construed to be medical negligence or malpractice include:

Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose Cancer.

Coma, Nerve Damage or Death due to Anesthesia Mistakes.

Improper Administration of Prescription or Non-Prescription Drugs.

Improper Use of a Medical Device or Implant.

Surgical Procedures done without Patient Consent.

Failure to Order the Proper Tests.

Failure to Consult with a Specialist.

Failure to Properly Monitor a Patient.

Injury to Mother or Child during a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-Section).

Birth Injury or Birth Trauma due to Obstetrical, Nursing, Hospital or Physician Malpractice.

Incorrect Treatment of a Diagnosed Illness.

Failure of Hospital Staff to Properly Interpret Doctors' Notes on Patient Charts, Resulting in Incorrect Administration of Medications or Treatments.

Only an experienced and well established malpractice attorney can tell you if there was negligence or not but...

Determining if you have a potential case for medical negligence is difficult, at best. One sign that you may have a potential case would be an unexpected or very different result from a surgery or medical treatment. Also death or severe injury that occurs as a result of "routine" treatments or surgeries where the physician or doctor can give no reasonable explanation for the death or worsened condition of the patient, may give cause to consider that medical malpractice may have occurred.

If you believe that you or someone you care about has been a victim of medical malpractice or doctor negligence, you should speak with us online - immediately.