Many, particularly those in the health industry, believe a major barrier to the openness and transparency necessary to reduce medical errors is malpractice litigation. However, it seems the opposite is true: malpractice claims are seemingly improving hospital transparency and reducing medical errors.
It is not uncommon for a patient who undergoes surgery or any invasive procedure to develop an infection. Although operating rooms are meant to provide a sterile field for a surgery, there are many ways in which a bacterial organism can invade the body through an opening.
Alleging a radiologist missed something on a film and caused you harm can be tricky. Often the “miss” is not obvious to the untrained eye (otherwise they wouldn’t have missed it), and the defense is usually that, only with the benefit of hindsight, can you now “see” the finding.
That question is currently being asked in a courtroom in Kitsap County. Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci surgical system, is defending itself from accusations that it isn’t safe when the company’s profits drive surgeons and hospitals to use it without proper training.
In modern hospitals the health care providers rely more and more on machines. A patient’s well-being is maintained through monitoring devices (picture the screen above the patient’s bed showing a pulse), breathing-assistance machines, and drug dispensing methods. The failure of any of these devices, or a malfunction, can adversely affect the patient’s well-being or even cause a death.
Medical errors and negligence can lead to the death of a patient. When it does, a claim is more than one for medical negligence; it becomes a wrongful death case.
Cases relating to obstetrical malpractice are often the most complex and costly cases a lawyer will handle. Part of the reason is that the injuries are often so catastrophic: a child may be born with cerebral palsy or brain damage that will result in huge care costs for the child’s lifetime. Those care costs can amount to many millions of dollars. And, of course, the impact of a disabled child on the parents can be life-long and devastating to their family.
In almost every medical malpractice claim, there are related medical expenses that were paid by health insurance or by a government program, such as Medicare or Medicaid. What most people don’t realize is that, when there is a settlement of a malpractice claim, the health insurance company or the government program usually has a right to be repaid all or part of the amounts it paid for medical care caused by the malpractice.