Physician Malpractice
 

Patients look to doctors for care and healing, but according to the National Practitioner Data Bank, there were 12,513 medical malpractice payments made by physicians in 2006. At least that many medical mistakes were made by physicians treating patients in that single year.

Common types of physician negligence include:

• Birth Injuries
• Failure to Diagnose Cancer
• Failure to Diagnose Stroke
• Misdiagnoses
• Surgical Errors
• Prescription Error - also see Fentanyl Overdose
• Anesthesia Errors
• Emergency Room Error

Surgical errors and complications resulting from them can be both debilitating and traumatic. Doctors who fail to take appropriate precautions to prevent infections, aneurysms, blood clots, or anesthesia complications can be held liable for injuries that occur as a result.

Victims of medical malpractice often feel conflicted when bringing a lawsuit against their doctor. Physicians are respected, educated professionals responsible for healing and treating patients - how then, can one turn around and drag them into court? As medical malpractice lawyers with over seventy years of combined experience, our attorneys understand what patients go through emotionally and psychologically. But we also believe negligent doctors put everyone at risk and must be held accountable for their actions - no one is above the law. Prepared with expert medical witnesses and authorities in the health care industry, we establish negligence, uncovering evidence and exposing facts for the jury and court to consider.

Anesthesia Negligence

There are a wide variety of errors that can be made in the administration of anesthesia, including:

• Dosing errors (too much or too little anesthesia)
• Delayed delivery of anesthesia medication
• Failure to intubate, or injury caused by intubation
• Failure by anesthesiologist to properly monitor patient
• Failure to recognize complications
• Turning off alarm on pulse oximiter (which measures levels of oxygen in the blood)
• Drug or alcohol use by anesthesiologist or by an attending medical provider
• Prolonged sedation
• Defective equipment
• Anesthesia Awareness

The phenomenon of anesthesia awareness is becoming increasingly publicized. If an improper amount of anesthesia is administered by the anesthesiologist or other medical provider, the patient may remain awake or wake up during a medical procedure.

A traumatic experience, anesthesia awareness results in patient paralysis and the inability to speak, while still being awake and aware of what is happening during the surgery. Many report the ability to hear conversations, feel as though they cannot breath or actually feel the pain of the surgery. Anesthesia awareness can result in post-traumatic stress, anxiety, sleeping difficulties and more.

Nurse Negligence

Nursing malpractice exists, and an increasing number of nursing malpractice claims are being made. There are four times as many US nurses as physicians. A total of 16,339 (7.9%) nurses and nursing-related practitioners had a malpractice report made against them in the United States between 1990 and 2003.

Many different situations may be considered nursing malpractice, including:

• Failure to properly monitor a patient
• Medication error or overdose
• Failure to timely notify or call a doctor
• Failure to properly note a change in patient's condition
• Improper use of a medical device
• Documentation error
• Failure to obtain informed consent

In some cases, it may be difficult to determine if your injuries resulted from nursing malpractice, doctor error, a surgical mistake or negligence by another medical provider. Since we are skilled investigators, our firm can help discover whether your injuries are the result of nursing malpractice or doctor negligence.

Read how we helped a family win a physician negligence case.