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Examples of Medical Malpractice

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When you go to a doctor’s office or a hospital, you expect to receive high-quality care delivered with proficiency and professionalism. Unfortunately, some doctors fail to provide medical care that meets a reasonably expected standard of care. When a doctor or other health care professional is negligent in the treatment that he or she provides and injures a patient, it is called medical malpractice. At the Law Offices of Craig L. Cook, we have encountered many different examples of medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one has experienced what you believe to be medical malpractice, contact our legal team right away.

Examples of Medical Malpractice

Some of the most common examples of medical malpractice include the following:

Misdiagnosis

A misdiagnosis occurs when a doctor diagnoses a patient with an incorrect condition. Receiving treatment for the wrong disease can result in harm. The patient might receive treatments that have side effects, and his or her true condition can worsen.

Delayed Diagnosis

Misdiagnoses are closely related to delayed diagnoses. A delayed diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient with a disease until after the condition has grown worse. A common example of when a delayed diagnosis might occur and cause harm to a patient is when a doctor fails to diagnose a patient with early-stage cancer, and cancer progresses to a later stage before the correct diagnosis is made.

Failure to Diagnose

A failure to diagnose occurs when a doctor does not recognize the symptoms of a condition and fails to diagnose a patient. The patient might then return home, not knowing that he or she has a disease that is worsening over time without treatment.

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are injuries that occur to a baby or mother during labor and delivery. For example, a doctor might apply inappropriate force and cause the infant to suffer a brachial plexus injury or cerebral palsy.

Medication Errors

Medication errors are another common type of medical malpractice. These errors involve a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist making a medication mistake and causing harm to a patient. An example of a medication error might include someone misreading a doctor’s order and giving a patient a much higher dose than what was prescribed.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia errors can be deadly. In these cases, anesthesiologists administer the wrong amount of anesthesia, which can result in brain damage, coma, or death.

Surgical Errors

Many types of surgical errors can cause injuries to patients. These can include wrong-site surgeries, wrong-patient surgeries, injuries caused during surgeries by inappropriately using surgical tools, and others.

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Simply suffering an injury while receiving medical treatment does not necessarily mean that you have grounds to file a medical malpractice claim. If you have suffered harm and believe that it may have resulted from medical negligence, you should talk to an experienced medical malpractice attorney. The lawyers at the Law Offices of Craig L. Cook can review what occurred and assess the merits of your claim. Schedule a free consultation by calling 479-783-8000 or contacting us online.