When a nurse, aide, doctor or another medical provider makes a mistakes, patients are affected. An incident involving your relative might have you considering whether medical malpractice occurred, but realize that mistakes are only legally actionable when they're proven negligent. To meet that threshold, the mistake must be a clear deviation from the norms which dictate medical practice. Common errors which apply include:
Lack of Action
Most medical providers understand that every ache and pain is caused by something. If your relative showed up late at night to the ER in serious pain and they were sent home for no treatment--only to be admitted later for a serious condition, negligence is possible. If your relative complained of excessive coughing and their doctor never ran any tests for asthma, bacterial infections or other conditions, that's possible negligence. The key to malpractice in such cases is that a medical provider did not take the same actions any other peer would have.
Improper Diagnosis
While incorrect diagnoses happen even if a doctor is focused and doing their job well, improper diagnoses can also happen because of the negligence and mishandling of a patient's case. For instance, if a doctor made a decision about your relative based on mixed up CAT or ultrasound scans, negligence could have occurred. If test results were entered improperly into your relative's medical chart and used to make a treatment plan, that could be actionable.
Improper Medication Administration
Most nurses are taught that there are multiple checks to do before giving someone medication. Anyone trained to work in medical settings understands that it's vital to administer the correct medication in the correct dosage to the proper patient. If none of these checks were done and your relative somehow received a medicine which had adverse effects, there could be a real case for negligence and malpractice.
Surgical Errors
You've likely heard surgical tales where the wrong organ was operated on or removed. At times, instruments have been left behind in body cavities. These sensational situations are not common occurrences, but it's possible your relative received treatment during a surgery that was grossly negligible and has resulted in body or mental changes they must live with.
Mistakes are inevitable in any field. However, negligence could cause lasting health effects and serious injuries. If you're suspecting that a doctor or another professional behaved poorly toward someone in your family, medical malpractice attorneys, like R.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C., can discuss and analyze the situation with you.