Doubting the level of care that a medical professional can provide is something no one should have to go through. Countless people place their health and well-being in the hands of doctors, surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel every day. While most of these providers treat their patients with the best care, some engage in negligent conduct that actually does just the opposite of what the patient needs — their actions cause serious personal injury and even wrongful death.
At the Law Office of Thomas G. Buchanan, our experienced Little Rock medical malpractice attorneys have the track record and knowledge needed to make your claim a success. Contact us immediately if you or a loved one have been the victim of a health care provider’s negligence. With the aid of our top attorneys we can pursue the maximum recovery you need in this time.
Medical Negligence
A wide variety of instances and actions can constitute medical malpractice in Arkansas. These errors can occur when doctors or other employees make diagnostic errors or simply fail to provide reasonable care for their patient. Examples of medical negligence that our firm has helped our clients receive compensation for include:
- Prescription Drug Errors
- Failure to Diagnose
- Surgical Procedure Errors
- Lack of Proper Consent for a Procedure
- Improper Diagnosis
- Operating on the Wrong Site
- Unnecessary Treatment
- Abandonment
Nearly any person that was involved with the negligent care that you received can be held liable for the pain and suffering they have caused. Not strictly limited to just doctors, a claim of medical malpractice can be brought against:
- Nurses
- X-Ray Technicians
- Chiropractors
- Dentists
- Dental Assistants
- Cosmetic Surgeons
- Radiologists
- Anesthesiologists
- The Entire Hospital as a Whole Entity
Seek the service of our expert Little Rock malpractice attorneys today if you believe that the actions your health care provider took was the causation of your injury. It should be noted that there is a statute of limitations in Arkansas that dictates how long you have after the reasonable discovery of your injury to file a claim. Our personable attorneys can go over all these details with you and determine the best course of action for you to receive a full recovery for your injury or loss.
Common Errors By Doctors and Hospitals That Lead to Medical Malpractice
While the majority of the time doctors and hospitals don’t make mistakes, a small number of cases arise where a medical professional is at fault for patient injury or death. Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional causes harm from failure to provide proper treatment. There are many types of medical malpractice, from surgical mistakes to incorrect prescriptions, but some errors occur more than others. Keep an eye out for these four common errors that lead to medical malpractice to protect yourself as a patient in Little Rock.
Diagnosis Mistakes
It’s an important part of a doctor’s duties to listen carefully to a patient’s symptoms and make an accurate diagnosis. Unfortunately, doctors sometimes distractedly or carelessly misdiagnose patients. In other cases, a doctor may delay a diagnosis without plausible reason, preventing the patient from seeking treatment in a timely manner. Both of these diagnosis mistakes can lead to a health issue worsening.
While it’s not criminal to make an honest error in judgment during a patient diagnosis, it is a form of medical malpractice to misdiagnose or delay diagnosis due to doctor negligence. Proving medical malpractice via diagnosis error depends on evidence – often in the form of key witness testimony – that a reasonably prudent and skilled doctor would have handled the case differently in the same situation.
Medication Errors
Medication error is a common cause of medical malpractice, especially in patients taking multiple prescription drugs at the same time. A negligent doctor may fail to check a patient’s current drugs before writing a prescription, leading to an adverse reaction. Adverse drug events are the most common type of inpatient error in hospitals, affecting about 5% of all hospitalized patients. More common than an adverse drug event, however, are errors made in drug dosages.
When a patient accidently receives too much or too little of a drug, the outcome can be fatal. A negligent doctor may write an incorrect dosage, a nurse might administer the wrong amount, or medical equipment that automatically administers the drug may malfunction. In some cases, misdiagnosis and medication errors go hand-in-hand. This is the case if the doctor prescribes a drug to treat a condition the patient doesn’t have or if the patient doesn’t receive medication for a condition he or she does have.
Surgical Errors
Some of the most serious types of medical malpractice are errors surgeons and staff make in the operating room. Surgeries are dangerous procedures by nature, but surgical errors go beyond a patient’s reasonable assumption of risk. A surgical error might be operating on the wrong person, making an incision on the wrong part of the body, or leaving a surgical tool inside the body cavity. An anesthesiologist also may be to blame for errors during surgery, such as failing to monitor a patient’s vital signs or delivering too much anesthesia.
Less dramatic errors that still have great potential for damage are those relating to lack of communication with patients and family members. A surgeon may fail to explain the potential risks of a surgery to family members during pre-op care, for example. In other cases, a nurse might improperly care for a patient’s post-op needs, leading to harmful infections and preventable complications.
Birth Injuries
Birth injury is a type of medical malpractice that occurs before, during, or after childbirth. Physicians and obstetricians can cause a variety of injuries to infants during birth due to negligence or carelessness. Examples include improperly monitoring fetal vital signs during childbirth, misusing birth-assisting tools such as forceps, and failing to schedule a cesarean section when necessary. Birth injuries can follow a child the rest of his or her life, causing damaging brain injuries, disorders, and syndromes.
Courageous Litigation for Maximized Recoveries
Over the past decade our top law firm has helped victims seek full recoveries due to medical malpractice injuries. Our law firm regularly accepts tough, challenging, and high-stakes cases that others simply turn down or shy away from. In our time serving the greater Arkansas area, the experienced Little Rock personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Thomas G. Buchanan have consistently averaged a recovery figure of over half a million dollars. This fact alone helps illustrate the tenacity and integrity that our malpractice attorneys carry with them into the courtroom — for every client, every day.
Don’t let a malpractice injury dictate how you live your life; our courageous, caring, and committed attorneys are here for you in this hard time. Please call or contact us today.