Many people place full trust in the medical professionals who are tending to them. They assume that these people are going to provide an adequate level of care and that they will not suffer harm due to negligent mistakes. These are health professionals, after all, with vast amounts of experience.
Unfortunately, the reality is that mistakes are often made in medical centers, and they result in serious injuries and even fatalities every year. In fact, this type of medical malpractice may be far more common than most people assume. Some reports have listed it as the third leading cause of death in the United States.
What ranks higher?
The only things that rank higher overall, at least in the U.S., are cancer and heart disease. Heart disease has now overtaken cancer to become the number one cause of death, but it is followed by all varieties of cancer and then medical malpractice, according to these reports.
What types of mistakes are made?
One of the issues with medical malpractice is that it can encompass a lot of different mistakes. For example, a surgeon who makes a mistake could cause a patient to lose too much blood. A nurse who makes a mistake could give a patient two medications that interact negatively. These are very different experiences, but they could both result in the death of the patient or in serious injuries.
Have you lost a loved one?
Those who have suffered injuries or lost loved ones need to make sure that they know about all the legal options at their disposal. They may be able to seek substantial compensation if a negligent medical worker was responsible.