Posted On: January 25, 2009

Orlando Medical Malpractice - Common Hospital Errors

The United States is having an epidemic - tens of thousands of people are experiencing adverse reactions and deaths from preventable medical errors during their hospital stay. As Orlando medical malpractice lawyers we continue to see needless tragedies caused by doctor and hospital malpractice.
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While you would like to think that Orlando hospitals have well-trained doctors and medical personnel and the most advanced technology – preventable mistakes continue to devastate innocent individuals and families. Nationwide, more people die from hospital errors than AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle accidents. These mistakes happen during hospital admission, during the hospital stay, and during and after hospital discharge.

According to Archives of Internal Medicine, patient errors are first recorded upon admission to the hospital. Medications taken and allergy history is frequently omitted from charts which result in drug therapy problems ranging from discomfort to deterioration of the patient’s condition. In one study conducted at two prestigious teaching hospitals, results showed that about two out of every 100 admissions experienced a preventable adverse drug event.

Not only do patients suffer from drug interactions but they also suffer from surgeries gone wrong. These tragedies include surgeons operating on the wrong side of the patient's brain, doctors amputating the wrong leg and patients going in to have a gall bladder removed and actually having their kidney removed instead. One poor man expected to have his cancerous testicle removed; instead his healthy one was removed. Sadly, a significant number of many patients later discover foreign objects left inside their abdomen.

Of course, when medical malpractice happens the doctors, hospitals and nurses involved usually keep silent. Few healthcare providers admit making mistakes. Even fewer doctors or hospitals ever voluntarily take responsibility for the harm they cause. That is usually when we are asked to assist the patient and the patient's family.

Posted On: January 15, 2009

Heart Attack & Medical Malpractice

Chest pain, shortness of breath and difficulty talking are hallmark signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Few people would need a medical degree to know that anyone with those complaints needs to get to a hospital without delay. Yet, as Orlando medical malpractice lawyers we have seen patients arrive in emergency departments with these conditions only to be told that they are fine.
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Even more amazing, patients with classic signs and symptoms of a heart attack have undergone cardiac testing that reveals serious abnormalities and they too have been discharged from the hospital. Yet, how can this happen in Orlando hospitals? Sadly, too many healthcare workers do not realize the importance of being entrusted with the health and well-being of their patients. It is too easy to get into the mindset of treating people as numbers. This is especially true when hospitals do not adequately staff their facilities or provide sufficient supervision.

Is there any excuse for an obvious heart attack patient being neglected? Sadly, when even the most obvious cases of medical malpractice happen, the hospitals and doctors involved rarely admit fault. Instead, the hospitals and their teams of medical malpractice lawyers "circle the wagons" and tries to avoid being held responsible.