Malpractice, the third leading cause of death in the States

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Then comes cancer, in all of its varieties. What would you guess is next? According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the answer is medical malpractice.

A lot of people are surprised by this figure, not knowing just how dangerous doctors’ errors can be. They trust doctors to help heal them and prolong their lives. While they undoubtedly do this, it appears that medical mistakes are also taking lives at an astounding rate.

When looking at these numbers, it’s important to note that a bad outcome does not always mean that medical malpractice occurred. For it to be a medical malpractice case, there must be negligence or a mistake. A poor outcome could still happen when the doctor doesn’t make any mistakes.

For example, if someone comes in with life-threatening injuries after a car accident in Connecticut, the person may realistically be beyond help. The doctor may do everything that is possible to do, but the person could still pass away from the extensive injuries.

This is important to the overall statistics because it shows that the numbers aren’t skewed simply by issues that doctors can’t fix. When looking at deaths caused by medical malpractice, one is really looking at the deaths that are linked to errors and negligence. Many other people die while receiving medical care, but that doesn’t give a false ranking to these overall stats.

Have you lost a loved one due to medical malpractice? If you have, take a moment to make sure you know what rights you could have to compensation.

Source: Forbes, “10 Things You Want To Know About Medical Malpractice,” Demetrius Cheeks, accessed Nov. 20, 2015