Medical mistakes can have tragic, sometimes fatal, consequences. Even though they are most often accidental rather than deliberate, these careless actions are still defined as medical malpractice. Patients who have been injured have the right to sue for monetary damages. Healthcare professionals and facilities carry insurance as protection to pay for these damages. Hospitals, doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can all be held responsible when medical errors are made. Each state has its own laws and statutes of limitations regarding how medical malpractice claims may be filed. Many types of malpractice span all areas of medicine. The following blog posts contain helpful information for anyone wishing to learn more about patients’ rights to file claims.
- What is the Statute of Limitations in Childrens’ Medical Malpractice Cases?:The window in which a malpractice case can be brought on behalf of a minor child in the state of Virginia is discussed.
- Medical Malpractice in All Fifty States: There is a separate entry for each of the states. Entry details include an overview of how malpractice cases are handled in that particular state with statute of limitations and award caps.
- Indiana Malpractice Blog: A series of posts that give details of different types of medical malpractice cases that give victims the right to sue.
- The Right to a Qualified Surgeon: Patients undergoing a surgical procedure have the right to a qualified surgeon. If a resident is performing the surgery it is to be done under the direct supervision of a surgeon.
- Can a doctor put a disclaimer on his reports?: Doctors may place a note on reports indicating that they dictated the reports but did not read them. This does not get them off the hook for errors due to mistakes in the report.
- A New Bill to Reduce Malpractice Cases Involving Lasik Surgery: Includes the details of malpractice claims involving doctors working in a Nevada clinic.
- How to Report Neglect or Abuse in DC Nursing Homes: Nursing home residents have the right to proper medical care and treatment. The agency to report complaints to is listed.
- Waking up Blind From Spinal Surgery: Blindness from improperly administered anesthesia is a top safety concern. There is legal recourse if the blindness is due to an anesthesia blunder.
- Medical Malpractice Suit Arising From Complications Following Surgery: Complications may arise from a medical procedure. The hospital and doctors are responsible if they failed to properly monitor the situation.
- Obstetrician Malpractice: Some common reasons for suits.
- Don’t Be Afraid to File a Malpractice Claim: An attorney explains some of the reasons victims neglect to file claims for legitimate cases. He counters the reasons with explanations for why claims should be filed.
- Hysterectomy Medical Malpractice: Explains the difference between an ordinary surgical risk and a complication resulting from negligence. A list of common hysterectomy risks is included.
- Unnecessary Surgery: A woman is awarded millions in a medical malpractice suit. An unnecessary hysterectomy was performed on her.
- Surgical Mistakes: A perforated bowel is a surgical mistake that can be prevented. Victims of this type of surgical mistake may have legal recourse.
- Infant Wrongful Death: When a negligent diagnosis and subsequent wrong treatment results in death, the survivors are entitled to compensation.
- Surgical Medical Malpractice: When a member of a surgical team does not perform their duty to an acceptable standard, medical mistakes occur. There are certain kinds of mistakes that can take place during surgery just as there are certain surgeries that are at risk for mistakes to be made.
- Fertility Doctor Sued: The Medical Board of California is suing a famous fertility doctor for medical malpractice due to his negligence in implanting embryos in a woman with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
- Suit Won Over Cancer Misdiagnosis: Patients have the right to a correct diagnosis. This woman was diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer when she really had cancer of the appendix.
- Georgia’s Patients’ Rights Are Strengthened: The Georgia Supreme Court decided that there would be no caps on jury awards in medical malpractice suits.
- Weak Malpractice Cases: Even though a patient may have a valid claim involving malpractice there are some factors that weaken the claim. Some of these can be avoided if the patient is well-informed.
- The Radical Treatment Recommended Was Unnecessary: A woman is correctly diagnosed with breast cancer. Because the biopsy results were misinterpreted she underwent a radical mastectomy rather than the less intrusive surgery usually recommended.
- Burns Sustained From Lasar Hair Removal Results in Lawsuit: Improperly administered nonsurgical procedures can cause harm and give the victim the right to sue for damages.
- Filing a Timely Claim Against a New York Municipal Hospital: There is a 90 day window to file a Notice of Claim against a municipal hospital in New York.
- Improper Delivery Leaves Child Disabled: A delay during the delivery of an infant left him disabled. The jury awarded $12 million in this case.
- Georgia ER Gross Negligence Statute Declared Constitutional: Victims of emergency room negligence have a high burden of proof to recover damages in Georgia.
- Emergency Room Doctors Fail to Diagnose Life-Threatening Condition: Doctors in an Illinois emergency room failed on several counts to care for a patient. The man was sent home where he later died.
- Injuries Sustained From a Fall May Be Medical Malpractice: When someone falls in a healthcare facility due to lack of proper supervision it can be deemed medical malpractice. At-risk patients have a right to vigilant care.
- New Federal Legislation to Protect Medical Malpractice Rights of Armed Services: New legislation is on the horizon that will allow the men and women who serve in the military to recover damages due to careless medical treatment. As it stands now, they are unable to sue the government for damage.
- $1 Million Award in Negligent Nursing Case: The nurse overlooked the warning signs of pain medication overdose and continued administering the medication. The patient died as a result.
- Failure to Diagnose Can Result in Malpractice Suit: When tests are improperly administered or the results incorrectly read, important facts about disease and illness are missed. Serious repercussions resulting from these mistakes entitle the victims to pursue malpractice claims.
- Medical Malpractice Rights: Patients have the right to expect doctors, nurses and healthcare facilities to provide safe and adequate care.
- CT Technicians Disregard Cause Death: The CT technicians ignored the patient’s complaints of breathing problems and proceeded with the test. The man died during the test and his widow was awarded $6.2 million.
- Michigan Malpractice Opinion: Maryland and Michigan are compared in one area of medical malpractice law.
- Five Tips for Malpractice Claims: Ways to protect legal rights and succeed in a medical malpractice claim.
- Hospital Errors and Medical Malpractice: Some common errors that occur over which victims have a right to file suits. Patients have the right to expect that mistakes will be prevented.
- Failure to Administer Antibiotics Results in Brain Injury: Doctors failed to treat an infant’s infection resulting in the baby contracting meningitis. Brain damage was caused by the illness and the jury awarded $7.4 million.
- Common Errors Resulting in Medical Malpractice: There are four common types of medical malpractice claims; cerebral palsy birth injury, birth injuries, failure to diagnose cancer, surgical error.
- Lawsuit Results From Wrong Implants: Patients have the right to be protected from a doctor’s poor judgment. In this case, the doctor realized she did not have the correct implants after the patient had already been anesthetized. She used different ones after consulting the woman’s fiancé.
- Informed Consent: An explanation of what “informed consent” means under Louisiana law and how it relates to medical malpractice.
- Texas Malpractice Caps: Do the medical malpractice caps violate the patients’ constitutional rights?
- Georgia’s Statute of Limitations: Georgia has a two-year limitation on filing medical malpractice lawsuits. There are few exceptions to this law.
- Malpractice Involving Strokes: Many times strokes are preceded by TIA. Doctors are guilty of medical malpractice when they do not treat these early symptoms and the patient suffers a debilitating stroke.
- Medical Negligence and Informed Consent: The different types of negligence that fall under medical malpractice are listed. An explanation of why an informed consent waiver does not get the doctor off the hook for malpractice claims.
- Virginia’s Malpractice Liability Caps: Details of Virginia’s award caps and how they affect the victim are discussed.
- Nursing Home Fall Results in Lawsuit: A nursing home was sued for failing to attach an alarm to a patient who was a fall risk. The patient fell and died as a result of the injuries.
- Contaminated Medical Equipment and Malpractice: Patients have the legal right to be protected from contracting disease from contaminated medical equipment.
- Medical Malpractice Victims Right Protected: An explanation of this Washington Supreme Court decision. This decision ends the special protection doctors and hospitals have received.
- Surgical Errors: Some common surgical errors that result in victims filing lawsuits for damages.
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