Recent Blog Posts
Anesthesia Errors and Medical Malpractice
Anesthesia errors are serious medical mistakes that can lead to catastrophic outcomes. These errors often result from professional negligence and may constitute medical malpractice if they breach the accepted standard of care.
A common anesthesia error is incorrect dosing. The overdosing of anesthesia can lead to respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. The underdosing of anesthesia can result in patient awareness during surgery. Another anesthesia…
Is a Physician's Assistant Subject to Malpractice Liablity?
A physician's assistant (PA) can be subject to malpractice liability. Like a physician, a PA is a medical professional who provides medical services. A PA is held to the standard of care of a reasonably competent PA under similar circumstances. If a PA fails to meet the standard of care and their actions result in harm to the patient, a PA can be held legally responsible for medical malpractice.
Additionally, a PA must work within the scope of their…
Does a Doctor Have a Duty to Review Past Medical Records?
Doctors have a critical responsibility to review a patients' past medcial records and take them into account when providing treatment to a patient. The failure of a doctor to review past medical records can lead to serious and even deadly consequences for the patient. A doctor who disregards or ignores a patient's medical history puts the patient at risk by not having all of the information needed to make a good decision about medical care.
A doctor not only needs to…
Failing to Identify the Interactions of Drugs
Drug interaction malpractice occurs when healthcare providers fail to identify the harmful interactions between medications that a patient is taking. The failure to identify the interactions between medications can have severe and even deadly consequences for the patient.
A doctor and a pharmacist have duty to review a patient's medical history including the current medications the patient is on before prescribing a new drug. They are expected to carefullly assess the…
Medical Malpractice for a Retained Object
A retained object refers to any item that is unintentionally left inside a patient's body after the performance of a surgical procedure. Common items that are left behind include sponges, needles or fragments of instruments.
The leaving of a retained object by medical professionals is a deviation from the standard of care. A medical professional is expected to account for all of items used in a surgery and make sure that none are left behind in the…
Recognizing the Signs of Medical Malpractice
A person who has been injured by medical malpractice should realize it is important to recognize some common signs. A primary sign to watch for is the worsening symptoms after treatment. Additional signs to look for is unexplained complications, lack of communication from the healthcare provider or a lack of transparencey when information is sought. Further, a patient should trust their own judgment when they think that something is just not right.
Being injured by a…
Hospital Falls
A fall in a hospital can lead to liability issues for the institution. When under a hospital's care, the hospital is expected to take reasonable measures to ensure patient safety. If a patient falls and is injured and it is discovered the the hospital was negligent or failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the fall a legal claim could be made by the injured party. In order to prevent hospital falls, the hospital should peform a fall risk assessment of all patients…
Surgical Errors Can Lead to Medical Malpractice
Surgeons and their staff are trained in their professions. However, when an error is made during surgery, they may be liable for medical malpractice. There are many reasons that a surgical error can occur. In some cases, the health care provider does not have the proper skill or training to perform the procedure in a competent manner. In other cases, the decision to operate in the first place was not appropriate and conservative care should have been taken before undergoing…
What is Informed Consent?
The Wisconsin law for "informed consent" is found in Wis. Stat. 448.30. The law requires that a physician treating a patient inform the patient about the availability of reasonable alternate medical modes of treatment and about the benefits and risks of those treatments. The statute adopts the reasonable physician standard. This is different than what was used in the past when the reaonable patient standard was used for informed consent. The reasonable physician…
Define a Hospital Adverse Event
A hospital adverse event refers to any negative or unintended occurrence that happens to a patient from during their medical care or time spent in the hospital. The event might be the result of system failures, medical errors or other causes that lead to patient injury or death. Adverse events can encompass a wide range of scenarios including surgical complications, infections, medication errors, patient identification, poor training and improper use of technology.
An…