When many people hear the term medical malpractice, they usually assume a physician or surgeon is the person who is the focus of the lawsuit. However, that is not always true as a recent jury ruling showed.
Psychiatric nurse to pay $4.2 million in suicide lawsuit
Hip replacement patient wins $1.3 million in malpractice lawsuit
Medical malpractice lawsuits can be very complex and time-consuming. A patient may have suffered a life-altering injury or illness or even died due to the negligence of a physician or member of the medical staff. For one woman in Connecticut's neighboring state of New York, the pain of a hip replacement surgery was worse than giving birth without anesthesia.
Why is medical malpractice not reported more often?
The Civil Justice Resource Group found that only about 2.9 percent of victims of medical malpractice will actually file a claim. What's even more surprising is that only about 5 percent of those that file a claim will receive a payment of some sort.
How can you help avoid being the victim of medical malpractice?
As patients, many people feel like they're helpless to prevent malpractice. In many cases, that's true. However, there are ways that we can lessen the chances of receiving inadequate or improper care.
Report: State medical boards are not consistent in actions
One of the resources patients should have to find information about their doctor is their state's medical board. These agencies license physicians and discipline them for offenses like negligence care. However, not every state's medical board provides the information patients may need to determine if they want to receive care from a specific physician. Whether the information available is complete or even accurate depends on the state, as well as if punishments have been handed down.
