5 Medical Errors That May Lead to a Lawsuit Against the Doctors

Everyone trusts doctors and other medical providers with their health and sometimes their lives. Medical technology today has advanced, and it aims to reduce the errors in the medical field. However, some errors are still widespread. Unfortunately, sometimes ,doctors and surgeons make mistakes that can put their patient's health and possibly their lives at risk. As a doctor, you might think that these goof-ups won't harm you. However, when a medical error happens, the patients can sue you legally and ask for compensation.

In such cases, the perfect solution is to have professional indemnity insurance for doctors . With the help of indemnity insurance bought from one of the reputable insurance advisors like SecureNow, you can stay clear of the claims or lawsuit filed due to injury or death of a patient.

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be centered around several reasons. Here are some frequent medical errors that cause medical malpractice lawsuits against medical practitioners:

1. Misdiagnosis of a Disease

At times, it can be difficult for you to determine what is causing the illness or pain to your patient. These problems or sometimes the lack of awareness and attentiveness can lead to a misdiagnosis of a disease. This could end up with a treatment or no treatment that might affect your patients' condition and harm him in some way. Ultimately, misdiagnosis of a disease will lead to the prescription of wrong medication. Hence, you can end up with a malpractice suit on you for which you'll have to pay a hefty amount as compensation.

2. Delayed Diagnosis

When you fail to diagnose a severe disease for a long time, the patient might miss treatment chances that could have avoided serious harm or even death. Being a skillful and experienced doctor under the same circumstances, you would not have made the diagnostic error, and then may not be liable for malpractice. Due to delayed diagnosis, your patients can go months without the proper treatment, and their medical condition might get worse for a situation that they are in.

3. Anesthesia Errors

You might have seen horror movies about patients who were awake during their surgery but are unable to tell their doctor about their pain. This kind of situation can occur due to anesthesia errors. You might think that the giving more anesthesia will be good for the patient. Contrary to that, using unsafe quantities of anesthesia can lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit. Giving too much anesthesia to your patients can also cause severe long-term harm, and it might also lead to death. So, it would be best if you carefully use anesthesia during surgery.

4. Surgery Errors

No surgery can be considered a small treatment; whether you are doing surgery of appendix or a bypass, all surgical operations is a serious matter. The last thing your patients would want to hear the following operation is that an error occurred. This type of medical error is common due to the delicate procedure of the surgery. Extreme circumstances can also happen - including dropping and leaving tools or instruments inside a patient's body or operating on the incorrect body part. Surgery errors account for nearly one-third of all medical malpractice claims done by patients.

5. Childbirth Injuries

The birth of a child is a fantastic and sometimes complicated event, and you must be careful not to hurt the child during the birthing procedure. Many birth problems can be foreseen and accordingly should be attended before the birth of the child. Inability to envision issues can spark a medical malpractice lawsuit. Also, the inappropriate use of techniques or tools can cause long-lasting damage to the child, which can also lead to a claim of compensation by the mother and her family.

You might have heard of doctors being accused of a medical error and hence, asked to pay compensation for the same. To be at safe side, there is a smart solution - professional indemnity insurance for doctors. You can opt for the same to be worry-free about the hefty amount that you might need to pay in case of any medical malpractice. Plus, it is crucial that you as a doctor, follow an error-free medical practice!