Types of medical malpractice cases in North Carolina
When a medical professional, whether a doctor, surgeon, OB/GYN, psychiatrist, anesthesiologist, nurse, or other medical practitioner fails to provide the accepted standard of care, causing injury, illness, or death, a medical malpractice claim can be filed to seek justice and full compensation. Some of the types of medical malpractice include, but are not limited to:
- Failure to diagnose: When a medical practitioner fails to take the proper steps to identify the health condition of a patient who presents specific symptoms.
- Misdiagnosis: A medical professional fails to correctly diagnose a condition, whether by missing certain symptoms or failing to order tests to confirm the diagnosis of an illness or condition that may present symptoms similar to other health conditions or illnesses.
- Delayed diagnosis: If a patient’s illness or condition is not diagnosed within a reasonable timeframe, it can worsen. If diagnosed rapidly, the treatment may have been far more successful.
- Surgical errors: Surgical errors can include failing to recognize a dangerous medical condition the patient is experiencing during surgery, wrong-site surgery, damage inflicted on the patient due to a surgical error, leaving instruments within the body, anesthesia errors, and others.
- Wrong-site surgery or wrong procedure surgery: Termed a “never event,” as it should never happen, surgery performed on the wrong patient or in the wrong site does occur every year, leading to tragic consequences for the patient.
- Unnecessary surgery: A surgery performed based on a misdiagnosis, lacking patient consent, not medically necessary, or performed on the wrong part of the body or on the wrong patient is likely a case of medical negligence.
- Failure to order appropriate medical tests based on patient symptoms: Many health conditions present similar symptoms, and testing must be performed to correctly identify the illness or condition. Failure to do so can lead to a worsened condition with serious health consequences.
- Anesthesia error: Anesthesia errors include administering too much or too little of the medication needed to perform a procedure.
- Medication error: Medications can save lives, but when the wrong medication or wrong dosage is prescribed, many medications can cause serious illness, permanent damage, or lead to the death of the patient.
- Failure to monitor a patient: To provide the accepted standard of care, patients must be monitored before, during, and after a procedure. A failure to monitor a patient could result in injuries or death.
- Plastic surgery errors: When plastic surgery goes wrong, it can be a life-altering situation. If the surgeon failed to provide the accepted standard of care and left the patient disfigured, it may be a case of medical negligence.
- Birth injuries: A child can be permanently injured at birth due to fetal oxygen deprivation, improper use of forceps or vacuum use, waiting too long to order a C-section, or be the result of negligent care during pregnancy.
