Medical malpractice is spread worldwide, but as per the US medical malpractice case statistics, 85,000 cases are filed each year in various places of the United States of America. A survey conducted by the national patient safety foundation and healthcare improvement in 2017 stated that 21% of the entire population of American adults are affected by improper medical practice.
Due to the medical malpractices, the patients are the ones who suffer, and there have also been a few cases of death reported in Philadelphia and other states of America. But the various law firms and lawyers, such as Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer, thrive on getting justice to the victims of healthcare negligence. Philadelphia law has a 7 year deadline to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
What is Medical Malpractice?
When a person is affected due to the healthcare professional’s carelessness, it comes under medical malpractice. It is not that this occurs just because of the doctors; the other medical professionals can also do so. This generally occurs when proper treatment is neglected, or improper treatment or medication is prescribed. This negligence by the healthcare professionals can cause harm to the patients with prolonged injury or can sometimes lead to death.
Types of Medical Malpractice
There are a lot of cases being filed towards healthcare professionals for medical malpractice all over the world. But some common types of malpractice in the medical field includes,
- Improper treatment causing failure in diagnosing
- Incorrect surgery worsens the patient’s condition or leads to death.
- Premature discharge before the patient is completely cured.
- The wrong analysis of the patient’s reports.
- Inappropriate follow-up of the patients.
- Prescribing wrong medication.
- Treating the wrong part of the body.
- The infection spread from the unhygienic hospital.
- Stitching the patients after surgery along with the prop inside the body.
Though there are so many types of medical malpractices, it is generally categorized into four major types such as,
- Failure to diagnose
- Surgery related malpractice
- Improper treatment
- Adverse drug
Do Medical Malpractice Lead to Death?
In most medical malpractice cases, the victims might suffer from unbearable pain, inactive body parts, or worsening the current condition of the disease. But there are also a few cases that result in death. As cancer and cardiovascular diseases are two major reasons behind the death rate in the United States, medical errors are becoming the third leading cause of death in the US.
Also, every year approximately 250,000 people in the US die due to medical errors. Philadelphia, the city of Pennsylvania, is one of the states of the US having the highest medical malpractice payout amounts. In such cases, you can file a case on the healthcare professional under the medical malpractice law with the help of the lawyers such as Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers.
Medical Malpractice Law
The medical malpractice law is specially framed to help the victims of medical errors. This may differ from one state to another, but there are some terms and conditions to file medical malpractice in general. Here are the terms to know,
- A doctor must only treat a patient with complete acceptance of the patient. The doctor must explain the treatment process, risks, and benefits to the patient.
- An error in diagnosis happens when the doctor doesn’t analyze the patient’s condition.
- Error in treatment occurs due to wrong prescribed medicine or high dosage.
- According to the “Health Information Portability and Accountability Act,” the patients’ records must be confidential.
- Just like injury law, even medical malpractice law follows a time limit. If the case is filed after the time limit exceeds, then the case might be denied.
What does the law offer to the victims?
When a medical malpractice case is filed over a healthcare professional, and the victim wins over it, they might be awarded compensatory or punitive damages.
Compensatory damage
This kind of damage includes both economic and non-economic damages. The economic damage compensation is provided to the victims who lost their earning capacity. This incorporates life care expenses and medical expenses.
The non-economic damages compensation is provided to the victims undergoing severe pain, inactive body parts, or emotional distress.
Punitive damages
This is a kind of punishment given to the healthcare professionals who are the reason behind the medical malpractice. And this punitive damage is sanctioned only if the defendant is found guilty of the offense.
Conclusion
As Philadelphia and other parts of the United States are suffering from medical errors, the medical malpractice law remains the only hope of the victims. There are also so many Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers to help the victims file the case and receive the eligible compensation.