According to the Institute of Medicine, preventable medical errors cause approximately 100,000 deaths each year. This number exceeds deaths caused by commonly feared fatalities, such as breast cancer, diabetes, and car wrecks, for example. And these deaths were preventable – meaning 100,000 people in our country would not have died, had their healthcare providers acted with more care.
Not everything is the basis for a lawsuit – sometimes people get sick, eventually, all people die. But doctors, nurses, hospitals, therapists, and other healthcare providers are supposed to help us and heal us. We want and expect to trust our physicians to care for our well being. We trust them with our lives.
Unfortunately, sometimes our doctors are careless, reckless, or wrong, and sometimes that results in serious and even fatal consequences. A doctor’s mistake or carelessness should not be the reason we get sick or lose a loved one.
Some common bases for medical malpractice and negligence suits are: misdiagnosis, mis-prescribing medications, surgical mistakes, and hospital malpractice.