Medical Malpractice occurs when hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals either negligently act, or fail to act, when diagnosing and/or treating a patient, resulting in an injury. Negligence is proven upon a demonstration that the doctor or hospital's actions "deviated from generally accepted standards of practice." Some common examples of medical malpractice include:
- Failure to diagnose, or improper diagnosis;
- Surgical error;
- Prescribing or administering wrong dosage or incorrect medication;
- Surgical infections;
- Surgical mistakes in leaving instruments or sponges inside of patient;
- Improper administration of anesthesia;
- Improper birthing acts causing birth trauma;
- Lack of informed consent.
Following the occurrence of medical malpractice, or the discovery of medical malpractice, an injured party has only 2 ½ years to file a lawsuit, or they are barred forever from filing a claim. Medical malpractice actions are very costly and time consuming. For that reason, even though a patient may have a claim for medical malpractice, the cost of pursuing that claim, compared to the potential recovery for that claim, may be too great to warrant the filing of a lawsuit. If you or someone you know believes that they have been the victim of medical malpractice, call Law Offices of Heidi A. Gifford today at (518) 725-0655.