Much has been made of the prevalence of preventable medical mistakes. Many time – when people think about medical errors they imagine situations such as doctors leaving surgical instruments inside patients, wrong site surgeries and prescription errors. However, medical errors can happen in a wide variety of situations, including some that people don’t often think of.
For example, hospitals and nursing homes are finding themselves as defendants in cases where they’ve lost a patient who suffers from Alzheimer’s or dementia, and that patient ends up suffering a serious injury or death from a fall or other accident.
Another growing concern is discharging patients -including newborns and their mothers - too soon from the hospital. With the desire to get people home and turn over beds, (which is often a good way to help avoid infection), some patients may be discharged too soon, before they are well enough to be on their own, without hospital supervision. Further, hospitals must make sure that when they do discharge a patient, a responsible party is there to take the patient home. The failure to safely discharge a patient may be grounds for negligence.
The receipt of a “toxic” organ is another form of medical malpractice. Organs must be properly tested to ensure they are safe and not infected with disease. Similarly, when receiving a blood transfusion failing to ensure the blood is clean and is the correct type may be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Another area of medical negligence may be excessive delays in treatment in the emergency room. Where the failure to receive urgent care causes an injury, allows a condition to worsen, or leads to death, the hospital may be found liable for medical malpractice.
Unfortunately, medical mistakes still happen at an alarming rate. As medical malpractice lawyers, we are committed to improving patient safety and fighting for those harmed by errors.
For more information, please contact the experienced California medical malpractice lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP for an immediate consultation.