Understanding Medical Malpractice—4 common claims and what you need to know if you’ve been a victim

August 19, 2024

When you’re ill or injured, undergoing surgery, or just having routine medical care, you quite literally put yourself in the hands of your providers. Doctors, nurses, aides, technicians, and pharmacists all play a pivotal part in helping you stay healthy and heal when you’ve been unwell.

When you’re a patient, you trust your caregivers deeply and vulnerable.

Unfortunately, if something goes wrong in a medical setting, it can have serious consequences: increased illness, more extensive injury, long-term health problems, or even death. In addition, victims and their families can face severe psychological and financial fallout from medical malpractice incidents. If you have suffered from medical malpractice, contact our Orange County medical malpractice attorney today.

Medical malpractice occurs when medical care falls short of established standards of care due to negligence or mistakes—when treatment deviates from what you should reasonably have received under the circumstances, resulting in harm.

Whether due to negligence or simple human error, preventable medical mistakes can be devastating—and they’re far more common than you may realize.

A startling 2016 analysis from Johns Hopkins University, drawing on data from four individual studies, estimated that over 251,000 deaths resulted from medical mistakes each year in the United States.

By that count, medical error is the third leading cause of death in America—right behind heart disease and cancer, and above unintentional injury and stroke—and accounts for nearly 10% of deaths annually. More alarming still, researchers indicated that that number might be an undercount, as it only tracked deaths in hospitals; the actual toll of medical mistakes, they say, could be more than 400,000 fatalities per year. (Older studies had estimated between 44,000 and 98,000.) And that’s only deaths resulting from preventable harm; according to the Journal of Patient Safety, “Serious harm seems to be 10- to 20-fold more common than lethal harm.”

Although the 2016 analysis has faced some criticism based on the method of calculation used to arrive at these staggering numbers, it’s clear that patient safety initiatives are falling short.

Based on 2022 data, Forbes Advisor recently reported that:

• Avoidable errors are made in 3% to 15% of medical interventions.
• One in three healthcare providers is sued for malpractice—surgeons are most likely to face claims.
• In 2022. California had 4638 medical malpractice reports, the highest per capita of any state.

Healthcare providers are, by and large, caring, dedicated, hardworking professionals—but they are human and make mistakes. Tragic, avoidable medical errors can happen due to understaffing, heavy caseloads, cost-cutting measures, new drugs, lack of training, complex technologies, computer systems, and more.

Four of the most common types of medical malpractice suits include:

• Misdiagnosis. Diagnostic errors account for over 30% of medical malpractice claims. An incorrect diagnosis can lead to a patient being given the wrong treatment (or no treatment at all), either of which may make them sicker or their injury more serious and can even lead to death. Timely treatment is critical to patient welfare—failure to diagnose (missing the symptoms) or a delay in diagnosing a present illness can cause irreparable harm.
• Prescription/medication errors. Whether giving the wrong medication or the right medication in the wrong dosage, neglecting to check for allergies or drug interactions, or failing to provide medication that was ordered by a physician, mistakes in medication administration are common and very dangerous.
• Surgical errors. Mistakes can happen at any point during surgery, including preparation and recovery. Common claims include operating on the wrong part of the body, leaving surgical instruments or foreign objects inside the patient’s body, harmful errors in anesthesia, and infection caused by improper hygiene or sterilization procedures.
• Anesthesia errors. Administering the wrong type or dosage of anesthesia, failing to monitor oxygen or vital signs, or improper intubation can lead to severe complications, including brain damage, organ injury, or death. To have a valid malpractice claim, you must prove that the anesthesiologist’s negligence directly caused your injury.
• Birth injury. A baby or mother can be harmed at any point in the childbirth process due to improper care, whether prenatal (administering a medication unsafe for pregnancy; not conducting appropriate tests) or mistakes made during labor or delivery (ex: failing to recognize maternal/fetal distress and adjust delivery accordingly; improper use of extraction device; incorrect use of anesthesia).

Do you have a medical malpractice case?

Not every unfortunate outcome or medical mistake is malpractice. Some medical situations and conditions are too serious, complex, or elusive for even the most diligent provider to solve, fix, or cure. To have a valid medical malpractice claim, you must prove three things:

1. The provider had a duty of care to you. You were in a doctor/provider-patient relationship.
2. The duty of care was breached. Due to negligence or error, the medical professional failed to provide care that should reasonably have been given in the circumstances.
3. That breach of care caused actual harm. You must be able to demonstrate that the provider’s negligence or mistake caused illness or injury that would not otherwise have existed, resulting in damages such as physical pain, emotional distress, death, and financial impacts (medical expenses, lost wages).

In California, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is one year from the date the victim knew or should reasonably have known about the injury or three years from the incident date, whichever comes first. In addition, the plaintiff must provide the defendant with 90 days’ notice before initiating the claim.

AAC’s Richard Cohn is one of the most respected and sought-after plaintiff attorneys in medical malpractice and won the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association’s prestigious Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2022.

Most recently Richard obtained a $4.65 million settlement in a wrongful death medical malpractice case concerning the tragic death of a mother after giving birth to her first child. The litigation revolved around the failure to treat amniotic fluid embolism and subsequent fatal maternal postpartum hemorrhage. Also, in 2023, Richard secured a confidential seven-figure settlement in a highly complex birth injury case involving radiology negligence. He then obtained a $4.25 million settlement in a products liability/medical malpractice lawsuit against a product manufacturer and a physician involved in injecting a non-FDA-approved facial filler into a patient causing permanent blindness.

If you or someone you love has suffered harm due to medical negligence or error, the skilled and caring attorneys at Aitken * Aitken * Cohn are available to review your case. We are committed to helping victims of medical malpractice recover the compensation they need and deserve.

Written on behalf of Aitken* Aitken*Cohn