.jpg)
When many people envision how they will die, very few imagine it will be at the hands of a doctor. However in North Carolina that is the case for many victims of medical malpractice.
A psychiatrist and professor at Duke University recently wrote this about medical malpractice:
“I have a friend who has lung cancer — the “good,” slow-growing kind. His doctors have been less kind than the cancer. There have been several close calls because he was prescribed multiple medicines by multiple doctors without coordination and due consideration of the drugs’ interactions and synergistic harms.
The mistakes were all easily preventable if anyone were minding the store and paying attention to the patient, not the lab tests. In any common-sense world doctors would care about risks and harms and wouldn’t always be rushing to order stupid and dangerous tests and treatments. The recurring mistakes in my friend’s care are the rule, not an exception. Medical error is now the third leading cause of death in the U.S.: Some 440,000 deaths a year are caused by hospital mistakes, and who knows how many more from outpatient mistakes.”
{Click here to read more about the damage cap for medical malpractice in North Carolina}
As experienced North Carolina (NC) medical malpractice and wrongful death attorneys we know that there are many different kinds of medical malpractice and they can all result in serious injury and death.
Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose.
As many as 160,000 patients are permanently injured or die each and every year because of misdiagnosis. Doctors can be held responsible for the injuries their patients suffer from due to either a misdiagnosis of a condition or a failure to diagnose a condition in a timely fashion.
Anesthesia errors. Some estimates put forth that one person in every 1,000 will suffer a complication due to an anesthesia error. The anesthesiologist must be alert, attentive, properly trained, and careful. Many anesthesia mistakes lead to a lack of oxygen in the brain that can result in brain damage or death.
Surgical errors. Surgical errors may be the easiest to spot when it comes to medical malpractice. Some errors result from unskilled doctors attempting to perform the surgery, but even if the doctor does notice the errors and it’s treated immediately it can result in serious injuries or death.
In conclusion the best advice we can give victim’s families, whose loved one died due to medical error, is to be knowledgeable and choose an experienced medical malpractice law firm for your case. An important part of any North Carolina medical malpractice trial is a knowledgeable, articulate medical expert witness. Because most regular people don’t have a deep understanding of common medical conditions and medical errors, expert testimony by a physician who can explain these complex issues in a way that everyone can understand.
RELATED CONTENT