Monday, August 22, 2011

Types Of Medical Malpractice

Nowadays, medical malpractice is often associated with failed cosmetic procedures carried out by professionals on celebrities and popular individuals. Nevertheless, what most people dont know is that these failed cosmetic procedures make up only a small portion of the wide array of errors that doctors accidentally or negligently commit in the medical world.

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient, instead of being cured from an illness, is harmed because of the prescriptions and procedures administered by a medical professional. In the USA, there were about 3,000 doctors who were sanctioned because of medical malpractice. This comprises around 1% of the total number of doctors who were stripped off their medical licenses. Moreover, there are a total of 90,000 patients who die because of negligent medical procedures.

Doctors commit medical malpractice in different cases. Failure of diagnosis refers to a doctors inability to correctly determine a patients medical condition. This can result in a misdiagnosis because of a physicians incompetent interpretation of medical examinations. Under the same circumstance, a competent and skillful doctor would have discovered a disease before it has reached its critical stage. The danger of failure to diagnose is the inability to give proper treatment which could have prevented the worsening of an ailment.

There are instances in which a doctor administers a medical procedure that must not have been given to a patient. This is a type of medical malpractice known as improper treatment. In ottawa personal injury lawyers say that a medical professional can also be sued for improper treatment if he/she has administered a medical procedure in a correct but incompetent way. Frequently, doctors who are involved in this type of malpractice treat illnesses which are not part of their specialized field.

Moreover, medical professionals, in carrying out medical operations, have the duty of informed consent. This means that they must let a patient know about the consequences of certain medical procedures. If a patient experiences physical pain and mental anguish after the operation without his or her prior knowledge in regard to the side effects, a doctor may be liable for failure of warning. According to ottawa personal injury lawyers, this is also a form of medical malpractice.

In ottawa personal injury lawyers highly encourage victims of medical malpractice to act upon unethical conduct of doctors and medical practitioners. Through this, medical professionals will be more careful in dealing with their patients, and in treating their patients medical conditions correctly.