Hundreds of thousands of Americans each year are injured or lose their lives because of medical malpractice. Preventable medical errors are the third most common cause of death in our country. Have you been the victim of medical malpractice? If you suspect you have received inadequate or erroneous medical care, you should contact a local Everett attorney to protect your rights.
To bring a claim for medical malpractice, there are two things to keep in mind. First is that, generally speaking (with some exceptions), the legal claim must be filed within three years of the incident and second is that you must have been harmed in some way by the medical malpractice. A mistake made that didn’t cause any significant harm typically isn’t actionable in a legal claim.
What Are Some Types of Medical Malpractice?
There are thousands of different types of medical procedures and each one carries a risk for medical negligence and mistakes. Here is a brief roster of the types of medical malpractice that are most common, but this is not a comprehensive list:
Anesthesia errors – Any time a patient is put under for a procedure, it must be done with care and precision. Even the smallest mistakes can harm patients or result in a fatality.
Aneurysm mishandling – If a brain aneurysm is misdiagnosed or treatment is delayed, permanent brain damage or a fatality can result.
Birthing errors – Misuse of forceps or a vacuum during birth or failure to recognize that a child in utero is in fetal distress can injure a baby or cost them their life. Brain injuries, paralysis and even cerebral palsy can be caused.
Failure to diagnose – Failing to accurately diagnose heart conditions, stroke, cancer or other serious illness can cause delays in treatment that can be fatal.
Incorrect medication – Improper diagnosis can lead to the wrong medicine being prescribed. Also, clerical or other mistakes in choice of medication can sicken or kill patients.
Hospital malpractice – Mistakes made during a hospital stay can occur because of the volume of patients handled, the number of people involved in providing care and outright errors.
Why Do You Need an Attorney for Medical Malpractice Claims?
Medical malpractice causes more than 225,000 deaths each year and far more people than that are injured or made ill from mistakes made by their medical providers. If the negligence occurred at a hospital, there will be layers of information to dig through to find out which medical professionals made the mistake that caused the damage to or death of the patient.
What makes it more difficult is that doctors, nurses and hospitals will close ranks to protect themselves against liability even when they know mistakes were made in providing medical care. Only an experienced attorney will be able to ferret out the truth and find the documentation necessary to substantiate a medical negligence claim for what was done to you.
How Do You Get Started on Pursuing a Medical Malpractice Claim in Everett?