If you are the victim of medical negligence, you’re likely dealing with frustration, anxiety, stress and fear about the future on a daily basis. No one ever expects to end up in worse physical condition after seeing a doctor or undergoing a surgical procedure, yet it can and does occur. In some instances, medical negligence can lead to a lifetime of health issues or even death. Those who have experienced medical negligence need a strong legal advocate in their corner who will fight for their rights and their future. Mike Redondo is that attorney.
When you place your future and your trust in the hands of Mike Redondo, you have taken a positive step forward—Mike treats every case as if it were his own, making client service and client satisfaction the most important priorities. Personal injury attorney Mike Redondo has a proven track record representing individuals who have been injured as a result of medical negligence and will use his experience and knowledge to help you.
How often does medical negligence occur?
According to Forbes, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports medical negligence as the third-leading cause of death in the United States, following heart disease and cancer. It is important to note that medical errors and medical negligence are not always the result of an uncaring medical professional. Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and others employed in the medical industry are often fatigued from too much work and too many hours on a shift. That being said, medical professionals owe a duty of care to their patients, and when this duty of care is breached—that is, when another medical professional acting under the same set of circumstances would have reasonably acted differently—the medical professional must be held accountable.
What is medical negligence?
If a healthcare provider deviates from the recognized standard of care when treating a patient, medical negligence may have occurred. The standard of care is defined as what a reasonable medical professional would or would not have done, given the same set of circumstances. If an act or failure to act led to injury or damages to a patient and the medical professional was not operating under the recognized standard of care, then the patient may have a valid claim for medical negligence.
Unfortunately, insurance companies often attempt to settle a medical negligence claim quickly, before the injured person is able to determine just how extensive their injuries are and what will be required in the way of medical treatments and rehabilitative services in the future.
Forbes also found that, contrary to the common perception that Americans sue their healthcare professionals at every turn, in fact, while medical errors kill as many as 200,000 patients each year, only 15 percent of the annual personal injury lawsuits involve medical malpractice. Further, as many as 80 percent of the medical malpractice cases filed result in no payment to the injured patient. In other words, patients who are the victims of medical malpractice rarely ever approach a lawsuit lightly and may even agonize over the necessity of filing such a suit. On the flip side, when a clear medical error has altered your life or the life of a loved one forever, a medical malpractice claim may be the only way to pay for necessary treatments.
What are the most common types of medical malpractice or medical negligence?
While every medical negligence case is different, some of the most common types of medical negligence include the following:
- Diagnostic errors are the most common source of medical malpractice claims, making up about a third of malpractice claims related to such errors. Hand-in-hand with misdiagnoses is a lack of proper diagnosis. This can occur when a patient tells his or her doctor of symptoms experienced, and, rather than run diagnostic tests, the doctor assures the patient they are “fine.” When a serious disease is either not diagnosed in time or is misdiagnosed, the patient’s prognosis can be extremely poor. A misdiagnosis can cause a patient to undergo unnecessary treatments or fail to receive the correct treatment—either of which can cause irreparable harm or death.
- Medication errors are also fairly common, particularly in a hospital setting. There are more than 1.3 million people injured by medication errors each year in the United States. This number includes medication errors by medical professionals as well as medication errors by patients themselves. A medication error can include a medical professional choosing the wrong medication, under or over-prescribing a medication, an error made by the pharmacist while filling the medication, or a mistake in dispensing the formulation (wrong drug, wrong formulation, wrong dose, wrong route, wrong frequency, wrong duration). While there are many scenarios associated with medication errors, improper dosage for the patient is the most common.
- Surgical errors often occur with foreign objects left inside a patient (towels or sponges). In addition, surgeons sometimes mistakenly perform the wrong surgery on a patient or operate on the wrong body part.
Childbirth injuries, anesthesia injuries, poor follow-up or aftercare, premature discharge, and failure to obtain informed consent are also many other causes of medical malpractice claims.
What are the most common injuries associated with medical negligence?
While there are a wide variety of injuries associated with medical negligence, perhaps the most common of these include infections, chronic pain from an improper procedure, lower chance of recovery following a delayed diagnosis, a number of different birth injuries—both mental and physical—and a myriad of injuries associated with medication errors. Anesthesia errors can lead to a heart attack or stroke, spinal cord injuries, asphyxia damage to the trachea, brain damage, coma, and even death. Those who do not receive sufficient anesthesia can suffer anesthesia awareness, which, in turn, can cause severe emotional issues.
How Redondo Law can help following a medical negligence injury
If you are the victim of medical negligence, the Redondo Law Firm in Miami, Florida, can help. To more comprehensively help all his clients, Mike Redondo speaks both English and Spanish. Attorney Mike Redondo is successful at helping clients just like you because he loves what he does—helping his clients by defending their rights and their future. Contact Mike Redondo today for a free case evaluation.
