Three Types of Medical Malpractice That May Surprise You

Medical malpractice is often equated with instances like botched surgeries or birth injuries, but it is much more prevalent than that. You may have been the victim of medical malpractice and not even know it.

Here are three types of medical malpractice that you may not know.

Misdiagnosis

You go into the emergency room experiencing abdominal pain. After looking at your symptoms, the doctor diagnoses you with gastroenteritis and sends you home. Once you leave the hospital, your symptoms worsen, requiring you to return to the emergency room. It’s then that the doctor realizes that you are suffering from acute appendicitis. That misdiagnosis could have led to deadly results had you not returned to the hospital.

Misdiagnosis can take many forms, from false positives or false negatives to misinterpreting lab results. Regardless of the circumstances of your misdiagnosis, it’s important that you trust your instincts. If you think you have been misdiagnosed, get a second opinion.

Prescription Errors

You go to your doctor for an illness. The medications you are taking are documented in your chart. Your doctor prescribes you a medication that will interact with one of the other prescriptions that you are already taking. Luckily, your pharmacist catches the error before dispensing the medication. The mistake could have proven fatal had you taken the medication.

Medication errors can have severe consequences—in fact, taking the wrong medication can be worse than the health condition the drug was intended to treat. If a doctor, pharmacist, nurse, hospital, or manufacturer acted negligently, you deserve to be compensated for your damages.

Failure to Diagnose

You take your loved one  who is complaining of indigestion and jaw pain to the emergency room. The doctor fails to perform the necessary tests to make an informed diagnosis and sends you and your loved one home. Upon arriving at home, your loved one collapses. You immediately call 911. Once you get to the emergency room, the doctors realize that your loved one was suffering from an aortic dissection.

Failure to diagnose an illness, disease, or injury can cause a worsening medical condition, improper medical care, delayed treatment, or other injuries. When doctors make a diagnosis error and fail to correctly diagnose your condition, they need to take responsibility for their negligence.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you or a loved one have been a victim of medical malpractice, you are urged to contact the Indianapolis Medical Malpractice Attorneys of Wilson Kehoe Winingham. The lawyers at WKW can discuss the details of your case with you and help you fight for the compensation you deserve.

Call 317.920.6400 or fill out an online contact form for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.

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