Medical malpractice is a serious issue that can affect patients long after the case is settled. With ongoing needs for treatment and medication, expenses can drain savings accounts, cause people to go deep in debt, even result in bankruptcy. Suing for malpractice can be a difficult decision that requires working with specialized medical malpractice lawyers. The reasons people choose to sue over medical malpractice vary from person to person, but there are some common types of cases.
- The Agency for Health Care Policy Research released a study that lists the most common reasons for medical malpractice suits in an emergency room environment. 30% of the suits involved misdiagnosis, 20% of the cases were for failure to diagnose, and over half of ER-related medical malpractice lawsuits involved some kind of problem with the diagnoses.
- 30% of the money involved in the lawsuits were for heart attack cases.
- Diagnostic problems proliferate. According to Angela Dodd, Ph.D. and Steven Fitzer, J.D, authors of When Good Doctors Get Sued, the majority of malpractice cases involve misdiagnoses, diagnostic errors or delayed diagnosis.
- The top five diseases in terms of financial payouts include breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, heart attack, and appendicitis. Allegations of misdiagnosis, delay in diagnosis, and failure to diagnose are chief among the complaints for people filing malpractice in these types of cases.
- Correct and early diagnosis is key. In cases of heart attack and appendicitis, having an accurate diagnosis early on is critical to keeping patients alive. In the case of cancer, getting an accurate and timely diagnosis can make the difference between life and death, but it can also have an effect on overall health costs, pain and suffering endured by patients, and the potential for lost wages.
- Doctors are sued more often. According to data collected and reported by the National Practitioner Data Bank, 69.3% of the 237,835 practitioners reported to the data bank in 2006 were physicians (including M.D.s, D.O.s, residents, and interns). 13.3% were dentists and dental residents, 9.2% were professional and para-professional nurses, and 2.8% were chiropractors.
- Obstetrics-related cases, while not the most common cause for malpractice suits, have the highest average payout, at roughly $560,000.
If you or a loved one has been affected by medical malpractice, you should not wait to find out what you can do. There are statutes of limitations that may affect your right to sue if you wait. Consult a medical malpractice attorney to get some straight answers about the law, and understand your options.