Boston Medical Negligence Personal Injury Lawyer

By Willy Smite

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

More people die each year in the United States from medical errors than from highway accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.

A 1999 report from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine cites studies showing that the conservative estimate of people who die each year due to mistakes by medical professionals is between 44,000 and 98,000.

What is Medical Negligence?

Medical Negligence is when injury or death occurs as a direct result of the failure of a physician or other health care provider (hospital, nurse, obstetrician, nursing home, anesthesiologist, pharmacist) to properly treat a medical condition. The injury or death caused by the negligence may be either a new condition or an aggravated injury to the patient. A doctor cannot be held responsible if the underlying medical problem was the cause of the death or injury.

Many situations result in medical negligence cases and it is important to remember that not all medical situations that end badly are the cause of malpractice. Some examples of situations that may be construed to be medical negligence or malpractice include:

Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose Cancer;

Coma, Nerve Damage or Death due to Anesthesia Mistakes;

Improper Administration of Prescription or Non-Prescription Drugs;

Improper Use of a Medical Device or Implant;

Surgical Procedures done without Patient Consent;

Failure to Order the Proper Tests;

Failure to Consult with a Specialist;

Failure to Properly Monitor a Patient;

Injury to Mother or Child during a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-Section);

Birth Injury or Birth Trauma due to Obstetrical, Nursing, Hospital or Physician Malpractice;

Incorrect Treatment of a Diagnosed Illness;

Failure of Hospital Staff to Properly Interpret Doctors' Notes on Patient Charts, Resulting in Incorrect Administration of Medications or Treatments.

Do I Have A Medical Negligence Case?

Determining if you have a potential case for medical negligence is difficult, at best. One sign that you may have a potential case would be an unexpected or very different result from a surgery or medical treatment. Also death or severe injury that occurs as a result of "routine" treatments or surgeries where the physician or doctor can give no reasonable explanation for the death or worsened condition of the patient, may give cause to consider that medical malpractice may have occurred.

If you believe that you or someone you care about has been a victim of medical malpractice or doctor negligence, you should seek legal advice immediately.

We take pride in assisting our clients who have suffered injury due to the negligence of health care professionals. If you believe your potential medical malpractice case has merit, please call now for immediate assistance.