The Long Endless List of Wrongful Medical Mistakes Causing Death
There is a limitless list of why and how doctors and hospitals they serve are sued for wrongful death. According to an array of wrongful death attorneys nationwide, including our firm, all agree that this list is indeed limitless. However, there are more common ways in which doctors and hospitals get sued for wrongful death incidents.
When you trust your doctor and your hospital, this trust is the ultimate trust anyone can give. This particular trust is a trust in life-or-death situations. After all, the doctors, nurses, and the hospital they work in are highly trained professionals. However, they are human beings, and humans are subject to error.
Thousands of medical mistakes are made every day by doctors, and these errors need investigation. However, if the error is small and does not harm the patient, nothing is said to the contrary. The unfortunate rule of thumb throughout the medical community is, if the error did not affect the patient adversely, do not report the error.
“Some things are better left unsaid if no one is hurt by the error.”
Sometimes this error ends in the wrongful death of a loved one. When this situation happens, the trust you used to put in doctors disappears, and you become untrusting of all doctors and hospitals. Once this professional breaches that trust, it is difficult ever to trust any doctor again. These few negligent hospitals and doctors paint a terrible picture of confidence in the hospitals and doctors who devote their lives to saving lives every day. These fantastic doctors are cautious and mindful of every minute they care for their patients, taking the highest regard for the ultimate safety of all patients.
The thing is that there are very few doctors who cause death to a patient. Most doctors are devoted to saving lives, are compassionate, and are caring individuals. You need to know what constitutes wrongful death. Most accidents, injuries, and deaths are caused by the negligence of a person, persons, or company. A grieving family member usually does not know they have options to find justice for the deceased.
When a doctor rushes or ignores what they are doing, a negligent action can occur. When a doctor is negligent, that doctor is not practicing medicine according to the highest standard of care. When a doctor is negligent, their care is substandard; thus, malpractice occurs, possibly causing their patient’s death. There are many instances of negligence causing the death of hospital patients that are preventable.
So, the question remains:
“What are the reasons that hospitals and doctors get sued for the wrongful death of a patient, sending families to a wrongful accident/injury/death attorney?”
- Death can occur when a doctor breaches infection control standards.
- If a doctor misdiagnoses a patient, the wrong treatment and medicine are ordered, costing them their lives.
- A doctor can mistakenly order the wrong medication, treatment, or procedure for a patient. The doctor can order the proper medication but the wrong dose. A doctor can order medicine for a patient that they are allergic to, which can be severe enough to cause death. There are many different scenarios regarding the ordering of medication, treatments, and procedures.
- A surgical doctor can do surgery on the wrong patient or have the right patient and the incorrect surgical procedure.
- It has not been a secret that a few surgeons left a surgical tool or possibly a gauze pad inside a patient after surgery because they failed to count all tools and dressings used during the procedure.
- The anesthesiologist can be neglectful in administering the wrong sedative and the wrong dose, and the patient dies on the operating table.
- Delivering a newborn baby is generally one of the happiest moments in a parent’s life. Medical malpractice occasionally happens in obstetrics to either or both the new mother and the baby due to a doctor’s negligence. This negligence can cause a family untold grief and heartache. Negligence of doctors during labor and delivery of a newborn can cause life-long disabilities and health problems for the child.
- Failure to monitor patients in any number of circumstances causes severe complications and leads to the patient’s death.
- Medical errors in all facets of the medical arena
- Inadequate medical histories of patients
- Inattentive doctors are always in a hurry and do not listen to what the patient tells them.
- Ill-kept records and documentation by doctors
- Illegibly written medication and treatment orders
- Miscommunication and lack of communication
Hospital Lawsuits
Hospitals are as much at fault for a patient’s wrongful death as any doctor. Hospitals can be negligent when they act negligently by not taking certain precautions. The hospital must always answer for the professional team they hire. Some examples are as follows.
- Negligence through not providing required education, training, or licensure of all professionals on staff
- Failure through not checking a professional’s background well enough
- Not providing adequate staff to care for the hospital’s patient load
- When a doctor is negligent, the hospital can also be found negligent for the doctor’s mistake.
- If the hospital knows that a doctor is incompetent but still keeps the doctor on staff, a lawsuit can be filed against the hospital.
- Unsanitary conditions lead to lawsuits
Never Allow a Negligent Doctor or Hospital Facility to go Unpunished
If you lost a loved one due to the negligence of a doctor or hospital, Kentucky wrongful death lawyer Billy Johnson wants to hear your story and facts. We want to help you find justice for the deceased loved one. Please give us a call immediately if you suspect medical negligence or medical malpractice. We will work hard to find justice and make those in the wrong compensate you for your emotional pain and suffering.
We know that no amount of money will bring back your loved one. However, an adequate and fair settlement helps to pay for your loved one’s end-of-life expenses, medical bills, and other outstanding debts your loved one left behind. It is not your responsibility to pay all of these costs. Never allow a negligent hospital or doctor to cause negligent actions again and harm another patient. If a wrongful death happens to your loved one, please call us as soon as possible. The call is free with absolutely no obligation. We want to get to work for you and find justice for you and your loved one.
