Medical malpractice is an unfortunate reality in the world of health care,,, and most physicians will experience a malpractice lawsuit at some point in their careers. In Florida, people who are effected by malpractice may suffer pain and suffering, lost wages, permanent disability or other harm. According to an organization called Insider Monkey, which made use of data from Medscape and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the five most common causes of malpractice lawsuits are as follows:
Failure to diagnose
The Insider Monkey study indicate that 31% of the doctors surveyed said their malpractice lawsuit was based on a failure to diagnose the patient’s medical issue. Professional guidelines and diagnostic and screening testing standards call for initial diagnoses to be confirmed before proceeding.
Harm during treatment
When a patient is harmed during medical treatment, the result may be disability or death. The Medscape data showed that 31% of surveyed doctors had been sued for medical malpractice following a patient injury during treatment.
Poor documentation
Physicians are required to meet a high standard of care with regard to documenting patient interactions and care. Failure to do so may support a medical malpractice claim.
Failure to treat
Somewhat related to claims for a failure to diagnose, failure to treat means that the doctor or hospital should have provided treatment for a condition but did not do so. This basis for a claim includes situations where the patient suffers a healthcare-related infection. A recent study indicated that such infections may be more prevalent than diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.
Medication errors
According to statistics, many thousands of people die annually in the U.S. due to medication errors. These medical mistakes include administration errors and prescribing the wrong drugs, but they are most commonly related to dosage errors. The World Health Organization has made combating medication errors a priority.