Law Offices of Dr Bruce. G Fagel & Associates – Common Reasons Why Doctors Are Sued For Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is something which is indeed very bad and any victims of such actions should always look to speak out about it and bring legal action. The reason fo this is mainly to prevent anything like it from happening again in the future. Unfortunately however, according to the Law Offices of Dr Bruce. G Fagel & Associates, not enough people come forward when they have actually been victims of malpractice.

Conversely, a great number of people do try to bring cases against surgeons, doctors and hospitals, when they don’t in fact have a case at all. Attorneys therefore have to ensure that the cases which they are taking on, comply with what they know, and actually do represent malpractice. To give an indication of the kind of cases which are brought, these are the most common reasons for malpractice claims.

Misdiagnosis or Failure To Diagnose

A total of 33% of cases are for a misdiagnosis or for the failure to diagnose an issue. According to the Institute of Medicine, this will happen at least once in all of our lives, at times with horrendous consequences. When it comes to diseases like cancer, we know just how important early diagnosis can be, and it literally comes down to life and death, or at the very least quality of life. Despite the frustration which this causes, there is very little chance of winning a claim for this reason, unless the diagnosis was extremely obvious, which it rarely is.

Surgical Errors

Preventable errors during surgery make up the second most common reason why these claims are brought about, with 24% of them being for this. Now this kind of claim has a much higher chance of success in the courtroom, because of the nature of the error. If this is proven to have been as a result of miscommunication between the team or negligence, then damages are likely to be awarded. Much of this is also based on the result of the malpractice, for example if someone has an instrument left inside them or they have issues in the future as a result of the malpractice.

Treatment Errors

If a physician decides to deviate from the recommended treatment option and that has a negative or detrimental impact on the patient, then they will certainly be sued for malpractice. This accounts for 19% of all malpractice claims, and many of them are indeed successful. The claimant will have to prove that they have been damaged heavily as a result of the deviation in treatment, and that such a decision was made autonomously by their physician. There is a 50/50 chance that a claim like this wins in the courtroom, and again it will have to be heavily backed up with strong evidence.

Malpractice is a very serious accusation and this is why it is so important that individuals are 100% sure before they try to make a claim.

 

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