Overtreating injuries and illnesses is a common problem that can cause suffering for patients and result in extended recovery periods, new medical conditions, permanent injuries, and death. Overtreatment can include ordering unnecessary surgeries and tests or administering medications that are of limited value to the patient's health status. When doctors overtreat their patients, they negligently put patient health and safety on a back burner.
Who's At Risk for Deadly Staph Infections?
Elderly residents of nursing home and individuals with immune systems are compromised are at considerable risk of contracting staph infections. Even with prompt and thorough treatment, nearly 1 in every 6 patients who contract a staph infection suffer fatal consequences. When negligent care and inadequate treatment cause a fatality, surviving family members can pursue compensation for their loss.
5 Reasons Doctors Get Sued
Physicians can be sued for medical malpractice when their actions cause harm to their patients. There are many reasons a physician can be held liable in a lawsuit. In the United States, the following are five of the most common reasons that patients sue their doctors. In many cases, these causes are part of a chain of errors that place patients at greater risk of injury or death.
Medical Professionals Go to Great Lengths to Conceal Malpractice
Medical professionals often conceal treatment errors rather than admit their mistakes. This places patients at significant risk of injury or death and makes it difficult to determine corrective actions that can restore the patient's health. When physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other medical professionals conceal errors, they deliberately place their professional reputation above their duty to protect patient health and safety.
5 Common Conditions Doctors Often Miss
Some conditions have such vague or variable symptoms that doctors often miss them because they fail to run the right tests or don't take the time to investigate their patients' medical histories. Failure to adequately assess a patient's health condition can result in unnecessary discomfort, prolonged healing, and death. Physicians who negligently care for their patients can be held liable for the damage they cause to a patient's health and their quality of life.
When Doctors Refuse to Admit Their Mistakes
When physicians fail to acknowledge their mistakes, they place current and future patients at risk for serious complications and preventable deaths. When doctors fail to disclose their errors, injured parties and their survivors have the right to pursue medical malpractice claims against the physician, their employer, the clinic, or the hospital where they provided services.
Circumcision Injuries Could Be Worth Millions
Epidural Steroid Injections for Back Pain Can Kill
Spinal injections of epidural steroids can cause severe, potentially deadly side effects. These side effects can include blindness, paralysis, and strokes. These types of injections are not approved by the FDA, yet many physicians have used them to treat patients in spite of the warnings. In doing so, these physicians have negligently placed their patients at risk of serious injury or premature death.
What You Should Know about Diagnostic Errors [infographic]
Diagnostic errors can have serious consequences that can prolong pain and suffering, and at worst, claim a patient's life. These types of mistakes are very common and their frequency raises serious concerns over patient safety in the United States. Diagnostic errors are more common than surgical mistakes and patients should be aware of the most common types of errors that occur in hospitals, outpatient care facilities, and physician's offices.
When Patient Referrals Fall Through the Cracks
Failure in the referral management process can delay treatment, increase the risk of negative outcomes, and lead to death. When primary care physicians and specialists do not share critical information regarding a patient's health, it is the patient that suffers the consequences.
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