Medical malpractice is a term that refers to the negligence of a medical professional or institution. If you’re wondering if your medical case could be considered malpractice, read on to learn about some common medical malpractice cases handled by our firm in Oklahoma.
Misdiagnosis
One of the most common types of medical malpractice is misdiagnosis. A doctor or other medical professional fails to diagnose an illness or injury, which leads to further complications and more expensive treatment.
Examples of misdiagnosis include:
A patient with chest pain goes to the ER, but doctors fail to recognize it as a heart attack and send her home without treatment. She dies a few days later from cardiac arrest.
A woman comes into the hospital complaining of severe abdominal pain and vomiting; she has appendicitis but is not diagnosed until it's too late--the appendix ruptures (which could have been avoided if they'd caught it earlier).
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors are a common type of medical malpractice. Surgical errors can occur during any type of surgery, including:
General surgery (e.g., gallbladder removal)
Orthopedic surgery (e.g., hip replacement)
Gynecological or obstetric procedures (e.g., Cesarean section)
As with any other type of medical malpractice case, the first step in bringing a surgical error claim is proving that your doctor was negligent and caused you harm as a result. In order to do this, it's important for your attorney to understand exactly what happened during your procedure so that they can determine whether there were any problems that could have been prevented by your physician or another member of his/her team.
Medication Errors
Medication errors are one of the most common types of medical malpractice cases. They occur when a doctor or other health care provider prescribes, administers, or dispenses the wrong medication to you.
This can happen for a number of reasons. Here are some examples:
You go to the emergency room with symptoms that indicate a heart attack but end up being diagnosed with pneumonia instead.
Your doctor prescribes antibiotics for bronchitis when they should have been prescribed for pneumonia.
Your pharmacist mixes up two different prescriptions that look similar and gives them both to you at once (this is called "double dosing").
Delayed Diagnosis
Delayed diagnosis is a common type of medical malpractice case. A delayed diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to properly diagnose a patient's condition in a timely manner, which may result in serious injury or death. Delayed diagnoses can be caused by several factors including:
Inadequate training and experience on the part of the treating physician
Inadequate equipment or technology available at the hospital where treatment was provided
Failure on behalf of other health care providers involved in treating your condition (for example, an X-ray technician who fails to read an X-ray properly)
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are injuries that occur during the birthing process. They can be caused by medical negligence or a lack of proper care and attention, which then leads to permanent damage or death for the child.
Birth injuries include:
Brain damage (such as cerebral palsy)
Spinal cord injury (such as paralysis)
Vision loss/blindness
Inadequate Treatment
Inadequate treatment is the failure to provide an appropriate level of care. This can include:
Failing to diagnose a condition or disease;
Failing to treat a condition or disease; and
Using outdated or ineffective methods when treating a condition or disease.
Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Failure to obtain informed consent is one of the most common types of medical malpractice cases. Failure to obtain informed consent occurs when a doctor fails to give you all the information that you need in order to make an informed decision about your treatment. This can happen if:
Your doctor does not tell you about all of the risks associated with surgery or other procedures
Your surgeon does not inform you about how much pain medication he will be giving you after surgery and fails to give enough medicine so that it's effective at controlling pain
Your physician doesn't explain why he needs access to your medical records
The Role of an Oklahoma Medical Malpractice Lawyer
As an Oklahoma medical malpractice law firm, we have the experience and knowledge to help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
If you have been injured because of someone else's negligence, it is important that you seek legal advice as soon as possible. The sooner we get started on your case, the better chance we have at winning it.
We can help with many types of cases including:
Birth injuries caused by a doctor's negligence during labor or delivery
Surgical errors such as removing organs from patients who did not need surgery
Failure to diagnose cancer or other serious conditions in time to treat them successfully
Conclusion
It's important to understand the different types of medical malpractice lawsuits so that you can choose the right lawyer for your case. If you're looking for an Oklahoma medical malpractice lawyer, contact us today.
Our team will be happy to answer any questions you may have about filing a claim or helping you find legal representation in your area of Oklahoma. We also provide free consultations with our attorneys who are ready and willing to discuss your options with no obligation on your part.