Before you reach out to a Louisiana medical malpractice attorney, you should know the most common forms of medical malpractice. Douglas McGinity wants to ensure that you know when you are being mistreated. Here are the most common forms of medical malpractice.
1. Misdiagnosis
When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition or, alternately, fails to diagnose a condition for some period of time, the patient could miss treatment opportunities that might have presented serious harm or death. A misdiagnosis leads to prescription and treatments that are not necessary for the patient and ultimately results in harm.
2. Medication Errors
Medication errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice and can occur many ways. For example, a doctor might make a mistake on the initial prescription, administer a drug inappropriately, or fail to take notice of a potentially harmful drug interaction.
3. Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia mistakes are not that common compared to other errors, but can be more dangerous than surgery mistakes. A small anesthesia mistake can result in permanent injury, brain damage, or death. The typical mistakes anesthesiologists have made are: failing to investigate the patient’s medical history for possible complications, or failing to inform the patient of necessary preoperative procedures.
4. Surgical Errors
Occasionally, a surgeon might make a mistake in the operating room. A surgeon might make negligent errors during the surgery itself, like puncturing an organ or blood vessel, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving surgical equipment inside the body. Alternatively, nursing staff could be negligent in postoperative care, resulting in giving the wrong medications, using improper procedures that could lead to infection, or failing to give the patient adequate instructions for their own postoperative recovery needs.
Douglas McGinity wants to help you if you or a loved one have been a victim of medical malpractice. Contact him here today so that he can get started on your case.