What Fields Does Medical Malpractice Most Commonly Occur in?
No matter what type of medical procedure you’re having done, you expect to leave the hospital or medical facility in a better condition than when you arrived. This, however, doesn’t always happen. A study by The New England Journal of Medicine determined the areas where medical malpractice claims were most often filed. The list included fields like surgery, internal medicine, and neurology.
When a patient is harmed by a negligent physician, the consequences can be severe. If you’re planning on undergoing a procedure, you should know how high your risks are and which medical fields tend to be the most dangerous when it comes to medical mistakes.
FDA Warns that Robotic Cancer Surgeries Aren’t an Improvement
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a warning for cancer patients who are planning on undergoing robotic procedures. There is no evidence that cancer patients who receive robotic surgeries live longer than those who undergo traditional procedures.
Robotic surgeries have not been approved for cancer-related treatments, but doctors widely use the equipment to operate on patients with various forms of cancer. The systems have been on the market for more than 15 years. The robot’s arms are controlled by a computer that’s manipulated by the surgeon. The movements of the robot are supposed to replicate the operating surgeon.
A Brief Guide to Nebraska Medical Malpractice Laws
Compared to other injury-related lawsuits, medical malpractice cases can be incredibly complex. This is because of the special procedural rules and compensation limits, as well as the legal issues with medical evidence.
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional breaches their duty to care for a patient in an effective and knowledgeable way. This breach leads to injury or a worsened condition. The most common examples include mistakes or delays in diagnosis or treatment, medications errors, birth injuries, and surgical errors.
In order to successfully achieve your legal goals in the event of medical malpractice, you’ll need to understand how Nebraska defines medical malpractice, as well as how the proceedings work and what compensation you may be eligible for. For a comprehensive list of Nebraska’s medical malpractice statutes, visit Creighton University.
When Is a Missed Diagnosis Considered Medical Malpractice?
When we seek medical treatment, no matter how minor or severe the injury or illness, we expect to receive the best care possible. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication errors, improper training, and plain negligence, medical malpractice happens all too frequently in the United States.
In the event of medical malpractice leading to a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or a failure to diagnose, a patient’s condition is likely to progress beyond where it would have if the diagnosis and treatment had been done currently.
Thousands of individuals suffer from misdiagnosis, leading to medical malpractice, each year. In the event you are a victim of such an occurrence, it’s important to understand you have legal rights and the guilty party can be held accountable for the actions.
What are Most Medical Malpractice Claims Related to?
Thousands of medical malpractice claims are filed every year. When a healthcare professional makes a mistake that impacts your life, you have the right to hold that individual, or the hospital, accountable for their negligence.
To receive compensation for a medical malpractice claim, you must prove your healthcare provider failed to meet the standard of care during the course of your treatment, and that the failure resulted in your injury. The majority of medical malpractice claims are related to anesthesia errors, childbirth injuries, medication errors, misdiagnoses, or surgical errors.
Common Medical Malpractice Claims
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors can lead to serious brain damage and death if too much or too little sedative is administered. These types of errors occur when an anesthesiologist neglects to read a patient’s medical history or prescribe the wrong type of anesthesia.
What is Medical Negligence?
The majority of people in the United States who seek medical treatment will receive good or excellent care. However, occasionally someone will experience harm at the hands of a health care professional. Health care professionals have a responsibility to their patients to follow a standard of care. When these standards are not met, it may be appropriate to bring a legal case to court to recover financial compensation.
Medical negligence is defined as an act or a failure to act by a medical professional that deviates from the accepted medical standard of care. Negligence itself is not illegal, but when the act of negligence is the cause for the patient’s injury, there may be a case for medical malpractice.
The term “medical negligence” is often used synonymously with the term “medical malpractice.” Interchanging these two terms is not necessarily incorrect. However, the term medical negligence is more appropriately placed under the umbrella of the term medical malpractice, as the negligent act is often just one component of a medical malpractice case.
Requirements of Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Nebraska
It’s common to trust your health care provider to help you maintain your health or give you proper treatment to get better. When a doctor, nurse, surgeon, or pharmacist acts negligently, you can suffer serious injuries. But you have the option to stand up for yourself and file a medical malpractice claim.
These claims can be complicated and need professionals who have handled medical malpractice cases before. If you or a loved one has been injured because of a health care provider’s negligence, an Omaha medical malpractice lawyer from Welsh& Welsh can help you with your claim.
Our goal is to get justice for our clients. You deserve a favorable settlement that will cover your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. You also hold the health care provider responsible for their actions. Your claim could make them adopt changes to ensure this never happens again, and potentially keep this from happening to someone else.
North Dakota Judge Rules Law Limiting Malpractice Damage Limits Unconstitutional
Chenille Condon from Fort Yates, North Dakota suffered from a stroke caused by a negligent surgeon at CHI St. Alexius Health in 2012. Dr. Allen Michael Booth, a cardiac and thoracic surgeon, was performing a lymph node biopsy on Condon when he mistakenly cut a main artery that sent blood to the brain. Condon now has a limp and difficulty using her left arm. Her brain injury will likely worsen over time.
In Condon’s case against the hospital, Judge Cynthia Feland ruled the state’s limiting damages for medical malpractice cases as unconstitutional, and didn’t allow the hospital’s motion to reduce a jury’s verdict of $3.5 million owed to Condon.
How Do I Know I Have a Medical Malpractice Case in Nebraska?
Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is harmed because a doctor or other health care professional failed to competently perform their medical duties. Medical malpractice cases are often very complicated. To prove that medical malpractice occurred, you must be able to prove several things to the court in the state in which the incident occurred. For Nebraska residents, your case will need to be according to Nebraska laws.
In Nebraska, the first thing you will need to prove during a medical malpractice case is that a doctor-patient relationship existed. This means you agreed to hire the doctor and the doctor agreed to be hired. Casual advice from a doctor you know personally or consulting a physician who does not treat you directly cannot be held responsible for your injury.