Those seeking care at a hospital expect a professional level of medical support. Hospitals are where people go for surgical procedures, diagnostic testing and intensive inpatient support. People generally assume that seeking care in a hospital will help them to access the highest level of support available given their current medical issues.
Unfortunately, hospitals are also where a large number of serious medical errors occur every year. These medical errors can have dire implications for the patients who experience them. The following are the most common medical mistakes that occur in hospital settings.
Medication errors
Mistakes while administering drugs are surprisingly common and can have devastating consequences for the patients. In some cases, doctors recommending new medications to treat someone’s symptoms fail to review their records and cause a dangerous drug interaction. Other times, nurses and other professionals actually administering medications to patients might make mistakes by delivering drugs at the wrong time, providing the wrong dose or even mixing up the medications that patients should receive.
Diagnostic errors
Physicians working at modern hospitals have access to numerous highly-effective diagnostic tools. From laboratory tests to identify pathogens and cancer to imaging tests that can pinpoint digestive blockages and stable fractures, there are many very accurate and useful diagnostic resources available to modern medical professionals. Unfortunately, physicians may still make mistakes when diagnosing their patients, possibly by rushing to the wrong conclusion or rejecting self-reported symptoms. Diagnostic errors can result in treatment delays that can worsen someone’s condition or even cause someone’s death.
Medical negligence
Hospitals often have inadequate workers on hand for moments of extremely high demand. Those seeking hospital admission through the emergency room might end up denied treatment and turned away during a medical emergency. Those already admitted to the hospital might have nurses and other medical professionals overlook issues that lead to their condition worsening. Failing to carefully monitor the condition of patients and to interact with them regularly might mean that someone’s condition progresses and worsens despite their presence at a medical facility.
There are many other kinds of medical mistakes that occur in hospitals, including surgical errors and birth injuries, and most of these scenarios result in major losses for the patients involved. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is one of the most effective means of seeking justice after a major mistake occurs at a hospital due to professional negligence.