The 3 Main Types of Medical Malpractice You Should Know

Medical malpractice is a legal term that refers to negligence on the part of a medical professional. When a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional fails to meet the standard of care, they can be held liable for medical malpractice.

There are several different types of medical malpractice cases in NYC and all have different levels of severity.

Lawyers are highly recommended in any case of medical malpractice. A good attorney from any of the leading law firms in NYC will help you in presenting your case much more strongly in court. They will also be key when it comes to investigations.

The most common types of medical malpractice include:

Failure to Diagnose

A doctor may fail to properly diagnose cancer in an individual and this can result in a patient dying prematurely.

This happens when a doctor fails to properly identify an illness, disease, or injury. This can include failing to recognize signs and symptoms, misdiagnosing an illness or disease, missing laboratory results that may indicate an issue with your health, failing to order necessary tests and surgeries, and more.

Improperly Treating or Diagnosing an Illness

A doctor may prescribe the wrong treatment for a patient’s illness such as cancer or fail to provide adequate treatment for their condition. If this happens, the patient may suffer serious side effects or even die because of improper treatment.

In this, a doctor misidentifies the cause of a condition or illness. This can include mistaking one disease for another (e.g., cancer for heart disease). It can also mean failing to recognize when two conditions coexist (e.g., depression along with cancer treatment side effects).

Inappropriate treatment happens when a doctor performs an unnecessary procedure on you or fails to perform a necessary procedure appropriately. For example, if he performs surgery without fully explaining what he is doing or why it needs to be done; if he fails to perform follow-up tests after surgery; if he gives you the wrong medication; etc.

Birth injuries

Sometimes babies are injured during childbirth due to poor care by doctors and nurses during delivery. This could include not monitoring fetal heart rate properly or not recognizing signs of labor early enough so that the baby is delivered safely into the world without any injuries occurring because of negligence during the delivery.

You are advised to seek out the help of an NYC medical malpractice lawyer immediately on the first whiff of doubt in such cases.

In Conclusion

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other medical professional provides negligent care to a patient. Negligence is defined as a failure to meet the standard of care that a reasonable and prudent person would have provided in similar circumstances.

Apart from the three types mentioned above, other common medical malpractices include:

• Prescription errors,
• Emergency room mistakes,
• Neglectful treatment of wounds and fractures, and
• Failure to obtain informed consent.

Get in touch with a reputed law firm such as NYC Injury Attorneys P.C. and get yourself an experienced NYC medical malpractice lawyer to make your life easier.