Medscape surveyed thousands of physicians about malpractice. More than half admitted they’d been named in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Surgeons and OB/GYNs were the most likely to be sued. Of those lawsuits, 3 out of 10 cases were settled before the trial.

Hospital doctors and nurses are not infallible. While exact statistics on the actual numbers of patients who are injured or harmed due to malpractice are hard to find, MD Magazine estimates that it could be as high as 4 million.

It’s also estimated that up to 400,000 wrongful death cases occur due to malpractice.

Those are the numbers. What about the most common types of medical malpractice? What’s happening in medical settings that lead to malpractice claim? These medical mistakes top the list. If you feel you’re a victim of any of these malpractice types, seek a free consultation from an attorney.

Errors During Surgery

Surgical errors are very common. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than three-quarters of surgical errors occur when the wrong side or area of the body is operated on. Other common errors are the wrong surgical procedure or the incorrect patient is taken into surgery.

Here’s an example of a surgical error that occurred in Florida. A woman went to the hospital in 2016 to have bones in her back fused following a car crash. As she was prepped for that back surgery, another surgeon thought he saw a tumor in her pelvis. While he was only instructed to make the incisions that exposed her back, he decided to immediately remove the mass. That mass turned out to be a healthy kidney.

Failure to Properly Treat the Condition

Sometimes, patients go to the doctor, wait for the diagnosis, and then head home with the doctor’s instructions in hand. They do everything they’ve been told, but they take a turn for the worse. They may not even try to treat a condition at all for one reason or another or offer just one solution when there are several. Failure to properly treat is a common malpractice error.

A New Hampshire woman went to the hospital with abdominal pain and learned she had an abscess and that an abdominal surgery was needed. No other options were given despite experts at other hospitals saying they could have just drained the abscess using a less invasive technique. The surgery caused complications, which lead to a lawsuit involving informed consent.

Injuries During Birth

Injuries during a birth are also a leading reason to consider a malpractice case. It may happen more often than expected because there are no federal rules stating medical residents must have a more experienced physician in the room when a c-section is performed.

A Louisiana couple was excited for the arrival of their child. When the baby’s heart rate dropped during a labor, an emergency c-section was ordered. While the husband was suited up for the delivery, the wife underwent the surgical procedure. The doctors turned out to be three residents who ran into complications. Almost half an hour passed before the residents called for help after her uterus ruptured.

Mistakes With the Diagnosis

When a doctor fails to diagnose a health issue, it can cost a patient his or her life. One of the most common mistakes involves diagnosing cancer. Melanoma is one type of cancer that’s often missed. A doctor sees a mole, doesn’t believe it looks suspicious, and doesn’t refer the patient to a specialist or order the mole to be biopsied.

Here’s an example of a highly-publicized medical malpractice case. In 2003, actor John Ritter was on the set of his popular TV show 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter when he suddenly didn’t feel well. He said his chest hurt, he felt nauseous, and he was dizzy. He was allegedly diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction, but he actually had an aortic aneurysm. While a jury didn’t find the doctor guilty of wrongful death, the family did get $14 million in other settlements.

Mix-ups With Medications

Over the year, several changes have been implemented to reduce the risk of a medication error. That doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Doctors have to write legibly now, though most type out orders and send them to pharmacies directly. There are still cases where mistakes are made, and this is a good example.

A doctor in Tennessee prescribed an anti-anxiety medication to a patient who had claustrophobia and needed a CT scan. The nurse in charge of giving the patient the medication didn’t find it in the system, so she used another method to get the medication and clicked on the first result. She didn’t notice that the wrong medication came up in the results. The patient was given the paralytic medication and went into cardiac arrest.

Do You Have a Case?

While mistakes happen, in a medical setting there should be a system in place to double and triple check medications, test results, or procedures. If you feel you’re a victim of malpractice, talk to our lawyers. You could have a valid complaint.

Our team will fight for you. There’s a reason Trial Lawyers For Justice is considered the best trial firm in the Midwest. Let us know more about your medical situation on our contact page or call 866-854-5529.

Pregnancy is an exciting and nerve-wracking time. One of the times it’s especially nerve-wracking is when you’re in a car crash. Between 2006 and 2012, the NHTSA reported approximately 112,300 pregnant women were in car crashes. In those cases, approximately 2 percent of the fetuses didn’t survive the crash. Fetal death in a car crash is not common.

If you’re in a car crash in any stage of your pregnancy, it’s stressful and is likely to leave you scared and uncertain. That’s understandable. If you’re in a car crash while pregnant, make sure you do these things in this order.

Always Wear Your Seat Belt

Protect yourself and your unborn child by wearing a seat belt. It may not be comfortable, but it’s the best way to avoid being thrown forward or to the side during a collision. The seat belt should go across the shoulder and chest and not across your neck. The lap belt should be below your belly and not over it.

Why wear your seat belt? In the same NHTSA study, they found that 99.9 percent of the women who wore seat belts did not have any injury to the placenta or uterus, which is a leading reason for a fetus to go into distress.

Ask for Paramedics

If possible, ask for paramedics to be called. While trauma to the fetus isn’t likely thanks to the protective amniotic fluid and muscle of the uterine wall, it’s best to get checked out. You could have head injuries, and your unborn child needs you to be healthy, too.

When the paramedics arrive, tell them how far along in your pregnancy you are and ask to go to the hospital. The fetal heart rate will be monitored. Your OB/GYN may request an ultrasound to make sure the placenta is still attached and that the fetus is okay.

While you’re waiting for paramedics to arrive, have someone at the scene take photos of the crash. If you have to take them, try to do them while sitting down. If you have a dash cam, store the footage and save the files on the SD card or to the cloud if that’s an option.

Call Someone to Meet You at the Hospital

You’re going to be stressed. You will also probably be sore where the seat belt and possibly airbag hit you. Don’t expect to drive yourself home. Have a significant other, best friend, or family member meet you at the hospital. You’ll be calmer if you have a support person by your side. That person can also help by starting paperwork related to the medical care you receive and forms that the police and insurance companies may need.

Listen to the Doctor

After you’ve been monitored, carefully listen to the doctor’s instructions. Make sure you know warning signs for issues. If you don’t feel the baby kicking for hours and hours, call and ask to be seen. Explain you were in a car crash. Take it easy. If the doctor tells you to take a few days off of work, do so. If you’re worried about lost income, auto insurance will cover that. Also, make sure you attend follow-up appointments.

Call an Experienced Car Crash Attorney

After a crash, auto insurance companies get to work. Someone is sent to appraise the damages to your vehicle. They estimate the current value of your car to see if it would cost more to fix it than to replace it. They look at your medical bills and expenses like lost income or rental cars. Using this information, they come up with the settlement offer. You are not obligated to accept the settlement. The insurance company’s goal is to give you a fair settlement without being excessive. That amount may not be enough.

The car insurance company rarely factors in the time it’s going to take you to find a replacement car. If they’re paying for a rental for one week, you may struggle to find a car in the same condition as yours that’s within an hour of your home. They’re not thinking of the hours you’re spending trying to find a new car.

Request a consultation with a personal injury attorney. Bring any evidence you’ve already obtained, such as the  report, investigating officer’s name, and the other driver’s name and insurance information. An attorney can tell you if you have a case or if the settlement offered by the insurance company is fair.

Call Trial Lawyers For Justice to discuss your car crash. Don’t settle with the insurance company without first talking to an expert in personal injury cases. Contact us online for a free consultation.

You see TV shows about plastic surgeries gone wrong. Whether you’re watching the British show Botched Up Bodies or the U.S. show Botched, there’s a lot of attention being drawn to the ways plastic surgery can go horribly, horribly wrong.

It’s one thing to watch these cases on television. What if it’s you that had the botched plastic surgery? Can the legal system help you at all?

Many people mistakenly think that they signed up for the cosmetic surgery and signed medical forms stating there are risks to any surgery. Signing that form doesn’t mean you don’t have a case. That form covers expected risks like nerve damage and visible scars. If the doctor made a mistake, you may have a case for plastic surgery medical malpractice.

Every Cosmetic Procedure Has Risks and a Possibility for Malpractice

Realize that you’re not alone. While a medical malpractice case involving plastic surgery may be more challenging to win, it’s not impossible. There have been cases where the doctor or surgeon makes avoidable mistakes.

There are non-invasive procedures. They often have less risk, but there can still be complications caused by medical malpractice by a plastic surgeon or specialist who administers Botox injections, and soft tissue fillers. The five most popular invasive plastic surgeries are:

• Breast augmentation
• Liposuction
• Rhinoplasty
• Eyelid surgery
• Tummy tuck

Take a closer look at some of the situations where a plastic surgery medical malpractice case was considered or filed.

A Brazilian butt lift is a procedure where a technique similar to liposuction is performed to draw excess fat from the stomach and back. That fat is then processed and moved to the rear to enhance the shape and size of a  posterior.  A Florida doctor was performing them in his clinic when a patient died. An investigation found that he had multiple violations and patient injuries or death. Some of the violations included not performing proper examinations prior to the surgeries and injecting the fat into veins that created blockages.

In Georgia, a medical malpractice suit was filed for two sisters who went to a plastic surgeon for Smartlipo, a less invasive liposuction procedure that uses lasers to melt fat before it’s suctioned out. After the procedure, they learned the doctor instead performed a traditional liposuction. That same doctor also faces lawsuits for filming and posting videos of herself dancing and singing in between incisions.

Breast augmentations are the most popular plastic surgery. A Jacksonville, Florida, doctor was charged with medical malpractice by three women and dozens of others started coming forward after the initial complaints. In some of the women’s implants contained mold. Some of the women asked for breast reductions and were instead given enlargements. Some woke up during surgeries, and one found a surgical sponge had been left inside her breast after the surgery.

When searching for a plastic surgeon, most patients know to look for board-certified surgeons. A Nebraskan cosmetic surgeon told patients he was board certified in cosmetic and plastic surgeries, but he lied. He was only board certified in family medicine. Multiple women came forward with excessive scarring, nerve damage, and pain following arm lifts, breast augmentations, liposuction, and tummy tucks.

Steps You Need to Take

When your plastic surgery went wrong, document every change and medical expense. Bring in paperwork proving you and surgeon had a professional relationship. To win your case, there needs to be proof that a mistake was made.

Photos, medical bills, doctor’s instructions, and statements from other patients all help build your case. Get second opinions from other plastic surgeons to have estimates on what it’s going to cost to correct the damage. An experienced trial attorney helps you each step of the way.

If you win your case, compensation typically covers medical expenses to correct the damage. You can also get time lost from work, pain and suffering, and punitive damages if the surgeon’s actions were negligent.

Call an Attorney Who Specializes in Cosmetic Surgery Medical Malpractice

At Trial Lawyers For Justice, you’ll get the answers you need. Attorneys with years of experience in plastic surgery errors offer free advice. You don’t pay any fee unless your case leads to a successful verdict or settlement. Reach out via phone, email, or live chat. Don’t assume you don’t have a case. Quite often, you do and you’ll have an expert guiding you until there’s a judgment.

An experienced lawyer can tell you if you have a case after a botched plastic surgery. Trial Lawyers For Justice have helped more than $1.5 billion for their clients. Don’t worry about money. You only pay your attorney if you win the case. It never hurts to ask for legal advice.