Understanding Definitions & Different Kinds of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice lawsuit is filed when a medical professional (a doctor, nurse or someone else) fails to provide proper treatment to the patient in question and/or cannot take good care of him/her. Fortunately, only a few hospitals and medical professionals are reportedly involved in medical malpractice and the statistics can give people a good peace of mind. There are different types of mistakes that make ground for malpractice allegations against the healthcare professionals. This article is meant to make the readers familiar with the most common mistakes in medical malpractice cases.

If you or anyone in your family has suffered due to suspected medical malpractice, it makes sense to meet an expert Idaho medical malpractice lawyer for legal advice.

Word of Caution

It is important to remember that a mistake committed by a doctor or others associated with healthcare industry does not make a case for medical malpractice. The same is true if a patient is not happy with the course of treatment or if the outcome of the treatment does not fulfil expectation of the person or his/her family. According to law, medical malpractice is defined as negligence of a doctor or a healthcare service provider. In broader aspect, negligence implies that the professional entrusted with the duties of treating the patient was not competent enough and that lack of skill caused harm to the patient.

Let us now take a look at what accounts for medical malpractice cases.

Delayed Diagnosis

Delayed or misdiagnosis has a fair share in medical malpractice cases. If a doctor fails to diagnose a critical disease, it is likely to cause serious harm to the patient as he might be missing proper treatment for some time. Timely diagnosis and proper treatment may push the patient to serious condition and even death which could have been averted.

A medical malpractice case based on the ground of delayed or wrong diagnosis is aimed at comparing what the professional in question did or failed to do to how other competent doctors with the same background and speciality would have done to deal with the problem. If the Idaho medical malpractice lawyer is successful in proving that a reasonably skilled doctor would not have committed the same mistake, the treating doctor will be held responsible for malpractice.

Injuries during Delivery

A good number of childbirth injuries are caused due to medical malpractice, with seizure disorders, fractured bones and cerebral palsy being most common of them. However, these injuries may be caused due to some other reasons other than malpractice.

Negligence during Delivery

Doctor’s incompetence and negligence may harm the mother and new-born as well.

Negligence in Prenatal Care

Doctor’s negligence during pregnancy could pose serious harm to the expecting mother and/or the fetus.

Surgery Mistakes

Some medical malpractice cases happen in the operating room. Surgical errors may happen due to negligence of the surgeon during the surgery or that of the nursing staff in post-operative care.

Anaesthesia Mistakes

These mistakes are considered more dangerous and life-threatening than surgical errors. Even a minor mistake could result into brain damage, other serious injuries and even death.

Common people expectedly ignorant of these medical malpractice jargons must seek help from an experienced and reputed malpractice lawyer to claim for compensation and culprit’s punishment.