Sometimes a doctor or a nurse fails to provide adequate health care treatment to a patient resulting in medical malpractice. Although these errors are generally caused by a small percentage of medical professionals, some errors can be fatal and become the main cause of death among targeted patients. Just remember not every medical error constitutes malpractice. You may need to hire a Hawaii medical malpractice attorney to help you determine whether or not you have a case. In order to prove the malpractice occurred, your doctor or medical provider must have been negligent.
Misdiagnosis
Most medical malpractice complaints fall into this category. Sometimes doctors misdiagnose a condition or delay a diagnosis due to lack of resources or poor equipment. When medical practitioners fail to diagnose a serious condition the results can be catastrophic. Patients will miss the required ongoing treatment and the condition may develop further. In order to prove a doctor made this type of error, the situation will be compared to how a competent doctor would have handled it. In other words, if a competent doctor in a similar situation wouldn’t have made this type of error, then you can file a medical malpractice suit.
Fetal injuries
Many childbirth injuries are caused by medical malpractice. Some of the most common injuries include:
- Fractured bones
- Brain injuries
- Nerve damage
It is important to notice that many of these personal injuries may not qualify as medical practice. There is also negligent prenatal care, which occurs during the pregnancy causing injuries to the fetus. Some examples of this include:
- When the mother has a condition and the doctor fails to diagnose it
- Failing to diagnose birth defects and ectopic pregnancy
- Contagious diseases that go undiagnosed and untreated
There are also some common errors during childbirth, which can harm both the baby and the mother. Some doctors may fail to foresee birth problems because the baby is too large or due to umbilical cord complications. Some doctors may also fail to detect signs of fetal distress and order a C-section, forceps and vacuum extractors when necessary.
Medication errors
These errors harm millions of patients across our nation every year. Medication errors tend to occur in a variety of ways, even from the time the drug was prescribed until it is administered. Some medical practitioners administer the wrong medication or perhaps the patient was harmed by a prescribed medication. These are the typical scenarios in such cases. Some drugs may have been administered to the wrong patients at the hospital or perhaps there were also problems with dosage. Even if the prescription is right, the dosage on the prescription can be incorrect. Equipment failure can also cause the patient to be administered too much or too little of the drug.
Anesthesia errors
These errors are fatal and often more harmful than surgery errors. The slightest error can cause permanent damage to the brain and in some cases, cause death. Anesthesiologists should check the patient’s medical history before administering anesthesia. Failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs, improperly placing the tube, administering too much, and using defective equipment are some of the most common anesthesia errors reported every year.
Mistakes in the operating room
These surgical errors can also be detrimental to the patient’s health. Whether the mistake includes operating the wrong body part, puncturing organs, forgetting surgical instruments in the body, or even mistakes during post-op care, you should seek the advice of a Hawaii medical malpractice attorney to help you determine who is at fault and ensure you receive compensation for all your injuries.