What Is A Medical Error?
To put it simply, a medical error refers to a situation or “never event” (because it is the kind of error that should never occur) where a medical practitioner makes a mistake while administering a form of treatment, which in turn, worsens the injury/condition of the patient, or even worse, leads to death. Research indicates that medical deaths account for thousands of deaths every year in the US.
Medical errors come in many forms and occur in every field of medicine at a very alarming rate.
These may include any of the following mistakes:
- Leaving a medical tool inside a patient’s body
- Performing the wrong procedure
- Performing surgery on the wrong body part
- Performing surgery on the wrong patient
What Do I Do In Case Of A Medical Error?
If you've discovered that your doctor made a medical error, it's quite natural to panic or feels uncertain about what to do next or how to report the situation. Being a victim of medical error can be both devastating and overwhelming.
In the event you are injured as a result of a medical error, here is what you need to do:
Seek Emergency Medical Help
If you've been injured by a doctor's mistake or negligence, seek immediate treatment from a different medical practitioner. This will help you easily identify how serious your injury might be and how to quickly salvage the situation.
Assess Your Injuries
To accurately assess your injuries, you need to know the different common medical errors. You may require the assistance of an expert in that field, such as a medical malpractice attorney.
Knowing the type of medical error your doctor made will help you determine if you can make a claim or not.
Medical errors typically fall into several categories. These include:
- Doctor Mistake, No Injury: This is when a medical error causes no injury to the patient.
- Doctor Mistake, Minor Injury: This is typically the case when a doctor misdiagnoses an illness or injury and then quickly spots the mistake and corrects the misdiagnosis. In such cases, the patient isn't harmed.
- Doctor Mistake, Serious Injury: This includes cases where a doctor prescribes the wrong medication or dosage to a patient, but the medication has the intended effect despite being wrong. In such cases, the patient isn't harmed.
- Doctor Liability, Small Damages: This typically includes cases where a doctor makes a medical error that causes minor harm or injury to the patient. In such cases, the patient may want compensation but these are typically small amounts of money.
- Doctor Liability, Damages: In these cases, the patient can easily prove that the doctor's error or negligence resulted in his/her injury and get a large damage award.
File A Complaint
Not many people know how to correctly file a report against a doctor who has committed medical error or negligence, especially since laws regarding medical malpractice vary from state to state. While filing a report doesn't necessarily initiate a lawsuit, it will draw the attention of the state’s medical board to the incident.
Hire An Attorney
You don't need an attorney for every case of medical error, but an attorney may be necessary in cases where you need to file a lawsuit against the negligent doctor.
Being a victim of medical error can be both devastating and overwhelming, but knowing the right things to do can help quickly remedy the situation and prevent such incident from occurring to others in the future