Florida Medical
Malpractice
Attorneys

According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, incorrect or delayed diagnoses occur in all areas of healthcare, harming thousands of people each year. Failing to diagnose or delaying a diagnosis of cancer, a serious infection, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, auto-immune disease or any serious medical condition can result in a life-altering or fatal injury. Other injuries, including psychological and financial problems, occur because of unnecessary or harmful treatment and the preventing or delaying of beneficial treatment.

At least 4000 surgical errors occur each year in the United States. Operating on the wrong side of the body, cutting or severing an organ or nerve, leaving foreign objects in a patient, causing internal bleeding or failing to detect internal bleeding and treat it in time to save the patient or prevent permanent injury can all cause irreparable harm.

Medication errors, such as improper dosing, can result in temporary or permanent harm to the patient. Other instances of medication errors include:

• Failing to monitor a patient closely during medication therapy (e.g., when a patient is on anticoagulants or blood thinners)
• Prescribing or administering a drug to a patient with a known allergy (e.g., prescribing Azithromycin for a patient allergic to erythromycin)
• Administering the wrong drug or wrong dose (e.g., the wrong flow rate of chemotherapeutic agents, insufficient dosing of antithrombotic agents, incorrect dose of dialysis solution)
• Prescribing medications for off-label use

Errors in the hospital emergency room can seriously harm patients. These errors occur for many reasons, including:

• Failing to triage a patient accurately
• Failing to communicate accurately and fully during a shift change
• Failing to acknowledge obvious signs of patient distress
• Overlooking symptoms of stroke or heart attack
• Administering the wrong medication or wrong dose
• Misdiagnosing a condition