South Carolina Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Some patients suffer injuries when a surgeon performs an operation on the wrong body part or even on the wrong patient. A recent report in the Archives of Surgery revealed that wrong-site or wrong-patient surgeries occur about 2,700 times per year. Surgical errors are still common even when the surgeon operates on the correct patient in the right place, particularly with laparoscopic and bariatric operations. Another common type of surgical error happens when sponges or other instruments are left inside the patient. Malpractice can also occur after surgery when medical personnel fail to properly monitor the patient and provide proper post-operative care.

Anesthesia is administered so that lifesaving procedures can be performed on patients about 40 million times per year. An anesthesiologist must carefully administer the anesthesia and monitor the patient’s vital signs throughout the operation. Brain injury, suffocation, paralysis, heart attack, coma, and even death can result from mistakes in dosage and monitoring. In some instances, improper dosage can allow a patient to “wake up” during an operation, experiencing pain and distress.

One of the most common forms of medical mistakes, medication errors cause a significant number of injuries and deaths each year. Illegible handwriting and confusing abbreviations sometimes result in medication errors, as can medical professionals’ failure to properly communicate with each other. Another issue is drugs that have similar-sounding or similar-looking names.

Failure to properly diagnose a serious condition early when the condition is still treatable leads to many preventable deaths each year. Commonly misdiagnosed illnesses include cancer, heart attacks, appendicitis, strokes, and pulmonary embolisms. Failure to appropriately diagnose, monitor, or treat serious cases of COVID-19 may also lead to preventable complications. Sometimes diagnostic errors happen because doctors fail to spend enough time talking to patients about their symptoms. Other times, they are the result of bad communication among the medical personnel themselves.

The birthing process is a dangerous time for both the baby and the mother, and medical mistakes can result in injuries or death for both. Medical personnel present at a birth have a duty to monitor the status of mother and child, and to act quickly when problems develop. If they are negligent, permanent injuries can occur that will affect the child’s life.

South Carolina emergency room staff can sometimes be overwhelmed with patients and become chaotic, inefficient, and mistake-prone.  Several studies have highlighted the frequency of medical errors in emergency rooms. A study published by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that almost 6% of the estimated 130 million people who go to US emergency rooms each year are misdiagnosed, which means that around one in 18 patients receive an incorrect diagnosis.

Telehealth negligence can arise when there is a failure to diagnose or delay treatment due to the limitations of remote consultations. Without physical examinations, some symptoms may be overlooked, leading to misdiagnosis or inadequate treatment plans. Additionally, technical issues such as poor video quality or connectivity problems can impede effective communication between healthcare providers and patients, potentially resulting in substandard care.

Errors in pediatric care can range from misdiagnoses of common childhood illnesses to more severe cases, such as negligence during labor and delivery that leads to birth injuries. For instance, failing to properly monitor and respond to a baby’s condition during birth can result in lifelong disabilities. Other examples include incorrect medication dosage, misinterpretation of pediatric lab results, or delays in treatment for acute conditions.

Laboratory and diagnostic testing can play a critical role in identifying serious medical conditions. Medical negligence may occur when a provider fails to order appropriate tests, misinterprets or overlooks abnormal results, fails to communicate test results, or does not follow up when additional testing is needed. These errors can lead to delayed diagnoses, improper treatment, and preventable complications.

Healthcare providers have a responsibility to provide patients with appropriate information about a proposed treatment or procedure so they can make informed decisions about their care. A lack of informed consent may occur when a provider fails to adequately explain significant risks, potential complications, reasonable alternatives, or the nature of a procedure before obtaining a patient’s consent.