A major problem in our country is medical malpractice with doctor malpractice being a large part of the problem. This is when a doctor or the medical staff acts negligently. To show how common this really is there are reports exposed that show about 98,000 deaths a year are due to medical mishaps. It is also reported that hospitals are responsible for hundreds of thousands injuries to patients yearly.
These numbers would be higher, but patients are not always aware they were subjected to medical malpractice, these facts are upsetting. Early this year the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported a survey that stated:
* 56% reported involvement with a serious error
* 74% reported involvement with a minor error
* 66% said they'd had a "near miss"
These medical professionals are afraid of the legal consequences.
Have You Been Injured by Doctor Malpractice?
If you think you may have been injured by doctor malpractice call a lawyer right away, time is wasting. Some of the more common situations are
* Failure to detect conditions of a patient or misdiagnosis
* Errors during a surgery
* Insufficient sterilization
* Leaving their instruments in the patient's body after surgery
* Reading x-rays or tests wrong
* Failure to treat a patient in a timely manner
These errors can cause a person to suffer from minor health problems to severe and sometimes fatal problems. Some common damage that is done by doctor malpractice is infections, damage to the organs, bleeding, and paralysis.
Doctor Malpractice & Your Legal Rights
Medical malpractice is not intentional, but doctors and the medical staff are supposed to abide by certain standards to minimize any possibility of errors. Sadly enough there are doctors that use drugs and alcohol who are at a higher risk of a possibility of error and there are the doctors who are just careless. It doesn't matter how the malpractice happened, victims and their families are entitled to some form medical compensation. This compensation helps with medical treatment, lost wages, disability expenses, and the pain and anguish they are suffering because of this preventable error that was made.
If the victim dies as a result of the medical malpractice, those families could be entitled to funeral expenses. It is important to call a professional lawyer that knows about doctor malpractice, they know your legal rights and will work for you.
David Austin is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases. You can learn more about Medical Malpractice at his website. http://www.burke-eisner.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Austin
