More than 250,000 people die every year in the U.S. from medical errors
Medical errors continue to be a problem in the United States. This not only includes doctor errors, but surgical mistakes, wrong dosage, and prescription errors as well. Anytime you go to the hospital or to a clinic of any kind, you assume you will receive the care you deserve. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Many Americans do not realize this, but medical negligence is actually the third-leading cause of death in the United States. A recent John Hopkins study estimates that more than 250,000 people die every year in the U.S. from medical errors. Right now there are organizations all over the country raising awareness about this growing problem.
The more knowledge we spread, the more accountability.
Today we are going to look at the most common medical mistakes of 2018. These are the preventable healthcare errors that lead to patient harm or death. If you have sustained an injury or lost a loved one because of a medical error, please contact Wormington & Bollinger today.
What Were the Top Medical Errors?
Mistakes happen, we are only human, after all. But in the medical industry, there is a higher duty of care and level of expectations. When someone we entrust with our health is negligent, distracted, or makes an error for another reason, the results are usually catastrophic.
Some of the most common medical errors in 2018 include the following:
- Patient falls
- Foreign objects left in body during surgery
- Wrong-site surgery
- Suicide in healthcare facilities
- Delay in treatment
- Error in medication
- Burns, drownings, asphyxiation, chokings,
Who is to blame?
When a medical error is made, one of the first questions that comes to mind is, “who is to blame?” Could the accident have been prevented? What happened? Was the doctor or hospital staff undertrained? Who was negligible? Can I sue?
These are just some of the thoughts that may run through your head following this type of incident.
But, when these common medical errors happen, who really is to blame? According to many industry experts, it is the system that is to blame.
Examples of a broken system include undertrained staff, error in judgment or care, computer crashes, mix-ups with doses or types of medications, surgical complications and conditions that go undiagnosed. As you can see, this is a pretty broad category that includes many different mistakes and scenarios.
The real problem here is that the majority of healthcare workers are dedicated, compassionate people. Although they are only human so may make a mistake, the bigger problem is that many hospitals are short-staffed and don’t have the time to properly train workers.
Call a lawyer today
If you have been the victim of a medical error in McKinney, please contact Wormington & Bollinger today to learn more about your rights.