Medical malpractice can cause severe injuries like amputation, brain damage, and death. Despite the high-tech capabilities at Collins LA Med Malpractice, mistakes still happen.
Risk management teams protect hospital networks and doctors from malpractice liability. Our firm aims to hold healthcare institutions accountable with compassionate advocacy backed by decades of precision litigation experience.
Failure to Diagnose
When a healthcare professional fails to diagnose a condition, it can have a devastating impact on the patient. This is particularly true if the patient has life-threatening symptoms that the doctor ignored, misdiagnosed or delayed treatment.
Symptoms such as weight loss, excessive thirst and urination, blurred vision, and fatigue are often early signs of Type 2 diabetes, which doctors sometimes miss. If a doctor ignores these signs, the patient could suffer from the potentially fatal consequences of untreated diabetes.
A Los Angeles failure to diagnose lawyer can help patients pursue compensation from their doctors for their losses. Damages can include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering and emotional distress. Wrongful death damages are also available if a patient’s condition led to their death.
Birth Injuries
There are a variety of conditions and complications that can arise during the childbirth process. If attending medical staff fails to notice or address these issues in a timely manner, this may result in injuries to both mother and baby.
A failure to detect fetal distress, for example, can lead to oxygen deprivation and brain damage. If a doctor did not respond to this situation in a timely manner, this may be considered malpractice.
Fetal distress is often caused by the contractions associated with labor. If a physician fails to act on these signs, it could result in a serious injury for both the mother and the infant, such as cerebral palsy or spastic quadriplegia. This condition can cause severe physical and developmental challenges, huge medical bills for therapy, medications, surgeries, nursing and 24/7 attendant care and other related expenses.
Medication Errors
Medication errors can result in a variety of consequences, from minor discomfort to permanent damage or death. They also strain hospital resources and increase healthcare costs.
Medication mistakes often stem from miscommunication between doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. Poor handwriting, distractions, and a lack of training can all lead to mistakes during the prescribing, dispensing, or administration of medications.
Additionally, medication errors might be caused by a lack of proper patient information or by a failure to consider drug interactions. These errors are particularly common at teaching hospitals, which offer complex and specialized care for patients. These facilities may have students and residents providing assistance, and they might not have as many resources as other hospital systems. They are also at risk of medication errors due to their high patient volumes.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors can result in serious, traumatic medical conditions, life-changing injuries, and sometimes death. These errors can include administering too much anesthesia, failing to identify possible interactions between medications, and not adequately assessing the patient’s health prior to surgery.
Other common anesthesia mistakes include using the wrong type of anesthesia, causing nerve damage, or performing surgery on the wrong body part. Surgical instruments or sponges may also be left inside the body, leading to infections and long-term pain.
All healthcare professionals, including anesthesiologists, must follow a certain standard of care when treating patients. When they fail to do so and a patient is injured, the hospital may be held responsible for negligence. An anesthesia error lawyer can investigate and prosecute the claim against the negligent anesthesiologist or hospital.
Surgery Errors
Surgical errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice. They often result in severe and debilitating injuries, including infections, organ failure, and the need for corrective surgery. In some cases, patients can suffer wrongful death as a result of surgical negligence.
Several different factors can contribute to surgical error claims, including improper sterilization and cleanliness procedures in the operating room, equipment malfunctions, communication breakdowns among surgical teams, and human error. The latter may include misjudgments, mistakes during the procedure, or concentration lapses.
In addition, faulty hospital rules, policies, or culture that disregard patient safety can also lead to these types of mistakes. Regardless of the cause, if you or someone you love was injured by a surgical error, our firm can help.