10 Medical Errors That Lead to Death

Patients expect their health to improve after receiving healthcare services at any level, from a local clinic to in-patient hospital treatment. However, medical errors are a threat to patients’ health and sometimes lead to wrongful death, robbing you and your family of a loved one.

Contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Lopez McHugh LLP, who can help you navigate the legal system in the event of medical malpractice. No amount of compensation replaces a person you love, but we strive to help secure your financial future when a medical error leads to death.

Medical Errors Pose a Significant Danger to Your Health

Medical errors may occur when healthcare providers fail to provide a standard of care, deviating from the typical processes in medical applications. The National Institute of Health (NIH) documents medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Preventable healthcare errors also result in the following:

• Harm to approximately 400,000 hospitalized patients annually
• An estimated more than 200,000 preventable patient deaths
• Costs to the healthcare system of $20 billion annually

Our medical malpractice attorneys in Philadelphia provide critical legal advocacy to suffering patients and families after losing a loved one. When you schedule a free consultation with our medical malpractice attorneys in Philadelphia to discuss these or other medical errors, we can help you determine if you have a medical malpractice claim.

1. Hospital-Acquired Infection

Further information from the NIH report suggests that hospital-acquired infections alone may create between $35.7 and $45 billion in annual healthcare costs. Infections may be caused by improperly cleaning medical equipment, devices, surgical tools, surfaces, and ventilators. When medical staff fail to follow proper sanitation procedures, they can spread bacteria, fungi, or viruses from patient to patient.

Ultimately, patients who survive hospital-acquired infections may fight additional illness, endure extended hospitalization times, and recover slower than others. Older patients with severe health diagnoses are often more susceptible to disease. The emergency room’s fast-paced environment makes it more challenging to sanitize properly, potentially making patients receiving emergency treatment more susceptible to hospital-acquired infections.

2. Diagnostic Errors

Diagnostic errors can prevent patients from receiving life-saving treatment. They are often the result of providers who fail to correctly order and use diagnostic tools, such as CT scans, X-rays, MRIs, or blood work. Incorrectly reading these tests and others, like mammograms or ultrasounds, can impact patient outcomes. These errors include:

• Failure to diagnose
• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis

Critical diagnosing errors may also lead to patients receiving the wrong type of treatment, incorrect dosages, or medications that conflict with existing drugs or conditions. Delays in receiving care may cause the worsening of a health condition, requiring additional treatment, more costs, poorer health outcomes, and can lead to death.

3. Communication Issues

Medical teams need clear communication to prevent errors that cause lasting harm. Without effective communication processes, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff leave patients vulnerable to significant errors. These errors can occur when prescribing medicines, performing procedures in the operating room, or when maintaining patient records.

4. Surgical Errors

Surgical procedures place patients in vulnerable states and operating errors can produce significant damage. Surgical errors may include:

• Operating on the wrong patient
• Performing the wrong surgery
• Operating on the wrong body part
• Leaving foreign objects like surgical tools in a patient’s body

Failing to address a medical issue through surgery safely can compound existing health issues and make it more challenging for patients to heal.

5. Technical Failure

Medical equipment is an essential part of healthcare. Implanted medical devices can be lifesaving when they work correctly. Medical equipment is also critical in monitoring hospitalized patients and sustaining life during critical care. Speak to a medical malpractice attorney to discuss the wrongful death of a loved one caused by a technical failure in the following equipment:

• Ventilators
• Pacemakers
• Defibrillators
• IV pumps
• Anesthesia delivery systems

Manufacturer defects, poorly maintained equipment, or the improper use of equipment may lead to death.

6. Medication Errors

Medication dispensing errors are the most common cause of patient harm. These errors are also the most avoidable. Medication errors generally occur due to:

• Giving a medication to the wrong patient
• Selecting the wrong drug or dose
• Administering medicine via the wrong route
• Administering medication incorrectly

Doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists in Philadelphia may be liable for your injuries or a loved one’s death due to a medication error.

7. Childbirth Errors

Deaths due to childbirth errors are rising, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that as many as 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Failure to treat or improperly treating these common conditions can lead to death up to one year after giving birth:

• Cardiac and coronary conditions
• Cardiomyopathy
• Excessive bleeding
• Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
• Infection
• Mental health conditions
• Thrombotic embolism

Childbirth errors take the lives of patients, depriving children of a parent’s love and care. Parental loss can profoundly impact a child’s development.

8. Failure to Monitor

Assessing patient healthcare is vital for patients when medical staff provides a continuum of care. Failure to monitor may also occur in nursing home settings, mainly when residents cannot communicate the negligence they experience. Failure to monitor may take these forms:

• Failing to recognize a medical emergency promptly
• Failing to monitor a patient’s post-operative condition
• Lack of or failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs during a procedure

Monitoring a patient’s health is critical to preventing further injury or death. Speak with our team if you feel a failure to monitor is the cause of your worsening condition, impacts a loved one in a long-term care facility in Philadelphia,  or causes the death of someone you love.

9. Staffing Shortfalls

Shortfalls in every area of medical staffing impact patient care, leading to medical errors that cost lives. The American Medical Association(AMA) makes these observations about staffing shortages and their potential to worsen:

• Almost half of all current U.S. physicians are over 55.
• Two in three physicians admit to experiencing burnout during the time of the pandemic.
• Leaving medicine within a year was the intention of one in five doctors during that time.
• They expect a reduction in hours by one in three physicians surveyed.
• Medical debt draws physicians to larger cities in search of better income potential, leaving smaller towns and communities with significant staffing shortages.
• The time spent on paperwork vs patient care does not allow adequate time for patient interaction.

The AMA expects physician shortages to rise between 37,000 and 100,000 in the coming decade. Additionally, nursing shortages and other understaffed medical positions put you at risk of critical medical errors.

10. Patient-Related Issues

Patients play a crucial role in the care they receive. Medical errors related to patient-related issues can occur when providers fail to educate patients, gain their written informed consent to treatment, assess patients thoroughly before administering treatment or new medication, or provide follow-up care.

Contact Our Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Whether you survive a medical error or a mistake claims the life of a loved one, the impact of a medical error can be devastating, causing financial, physical, and emotional devastation. Connect with compassionate legal advocates when you schedule a free consultation to discuss a medical error. The medical malpractice attorneys at Lopez McHugh LLP want to hear from you.

Our team offers five decades of combined experience representing clients in life’s most challenging moments. We shoulder the legal burden for you when tragedy strikes.