Medical malpractice is a legal course of action when a medical or healthcare professional has violated patient safety rules. In other words, they have not acted in accordance with an accepted standard of medical care, and caused a patient’s injury or their death.
Up to 440,000 patients die every year in United States’ hospitals and between 10 and 20 times that number suffer a serious injury as a result of medical malpractice. This is according to an article in the Journal of Patient Safety. In fact, a more recent Johns Hopkins study confirmed that deaths from medical malpractice is the third-leading cause of death in America. The leading and second-leading causes of death are heart disease and cancer. As a top-rated medical malpractice lawyer in Lancaster PA, Jaime Jackson Law brings compassion, clarity, and closure to your case.
Medical malpractice lawyers identify systems failures
Medical malpractice often stems from systems failures. And systems failures can stem from a number of areas, for example: doctors not spending enough time with their patients; not listening to their patients; not ordering the right test; or doctors not communicating with one another. In addition, doctors may not be staying up-to-date with current developments in their field, there may be inaccuracies in patient records, or they simply shuffle patients through the ‘assembly line’. In many cases, doctors are too quick to prescribe medication rather than order the necessary tests which would help get to the root cause of their patient’s medical problem.
Medical malpractice lawyers enforce patient safety rules
The simple fact is: many deaths can be prevented if hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare professionals follow well-established patient safety rules. Medical malpractice lawsuits are about enforcing patient safety rules and holding medical providers accountable for the consequences of their violations. Accountability ensures that violations of patient safety rules are not repeated, and, therefore, every patient in our community is protected.
If you or someone you love has been injured because of a healthcare professional’s negligence, or if you have lost a loved one unexpectedly, please get in touch. You can speak with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Lancaster PA who knows how to tackle personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Is Medical Malpractice Common?
More than 400,000 patients die every year in the United States due to preventable medical malpractice inside hospitals. This is according to a study published in the Journal of Patient Safety. In fact, medical errors are quite often the result of system failures. These systems failures can stem from factors such as: doctors not spending enough time with their patients; doctors not listening to their patients; or not ordering the right test. In addition, doctors may not communicate with one another, not stay up-to-date with current developments in their field, or there may be inaccuracies in the patient’s records. Further, doctors may simply be shuffling their patients through the ‘assembly line’. This can result in prescribing medications too quickly rather than ordering the necessary tests to find the root cause of the problem.
What is a medical malpractice case?
Medical malpractice is a legal course of action when a medical or healthcare professional violates patient safety rules. In other words, they do not act in accordance with an acceptable standard of medical care, and cause the injury or death of a patient. Medical malpractice lawsuits are about enforcing the patient safety rules and holding medical providers accountable for the consequences of these violations. In addition, medical malpractice lawsuits deter future conduct and prevent violations of the patient safety rules from being repeated. This means that anyone who needs future medical care is protected as a patient.
What are some common types of medical malpractice cases?
Types of medical malpractice cases include: not diagnosing the patient’s condition properly; failing to order testing (or the correct testing); not treating the patient’s condition properly; failure to monitor the patient; not intervening in a timely manner to prevent harm; surgical errors; medication errors; or not obtaining the patient’s informed consent before surgery.
What do I have to prove in a medical malpractice lawsuit?
The patient bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit must prove three elements:
- Was the medical provider negligent? In other words, did they violate patient safety rules, or, the standard of care?
- Was the medical provider’s negligence (violation of the patient safety rules) a cause of the harm, or did it increase the risk of harm? and.
- Damages: medical bills; lost earnings; and the human damages of pain, suffering, loss of mobility, loss of enjoyment of life, or death of a family member.