Hospital errors are a huge problem in Massachusetts and are more common than a lot of people realize. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine, somewhere between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths in U.S. hospitals each year are directly related to a medical error. That’s more deaths than occur each year due to car accidents.
What causes hospital errors?
Some errors in hospitals occur because of a mistake that is made during a patient’s care. In other words, the hospital committed an error. Other errors are because of an omission, where a hospital patient is not provided with a treatment that they need.
There are many factors that can lead to a hospital error such as poor communication, lack of skill and blatant negligence. While around 9.8 to 15.7% of hospital errors are fatal, many of the other errors lead to serious injuries that impact patients for life. Medical negligence settlements and other payments for hospital errors cost the health care industry tens of billions each year.
Types of hospital errors
There are some common types of hospital errors that come up more frequently than others. Often, these errors are caused by systemic problems at the hospital. Some hospitals might lose vital patient information due to a poor communication system or allow doctors to make key patient decisions before consulting specialists. Here are some of the most common hospital errors:
- Medication errors
- Diagnostic errors
- Surgical errors
- Wrong-patient errors
You can sue the hospital where you were harmed
Sometimes patients don’t realize that their medical complications were caused by hospital errors. In many cases, the hospital doesn’t tell them that a mistake was made. If you suspect that you have been a victim of hospital negligence, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.
