Common Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional’s wrong actions or lack of action causes a patient permanent harm or results in the patient’s death. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are held to a national standard of care, and if their conduct falls short of that standard, they need to face the consequences for the harm caused.

At Bertram & Murphy, our highly skilled Washington, D.C. medical malpractice attorneys have extensive experience handling a wide array of medical malpractice claims. Whether you are given an incorrect diagnosis, prescribed a dangerous drug, injured from a surgical error, or some other form of medical negligence, you may be eligible for financial compensation.

We understand the unique challenges posed by all types of claims. Whatever form of medical malpractice claim you have suffered, we are ready to help you hold the negligent medical professionals accountable.

If you have been the victim of medical malpractice in Washington, D.C., you need to speak with Bertram & Murphy as soon as possible. When you consult with our compassionate medical malpractice lawyers, we review the harm you suffered, analyze it from all angles, and advise you about your best legal options.

To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with our highly skilled and experienced Washington, D.C. medical malpractice lawyers, call us now or contact us online.

Misread CT Scan

Computed tomography is extremely important for identifying cancer and other potentially deadly conditions. However, a CT scan is only useful if a medical professional can correctly interpret the scan’s results. If a flawed interpretation of a CT scan results in a misdiagnosis that, in result, in delays in diagnosis. Early diagnosis saves lives. A long delay can allow cancer or the condition to progress to the point where it not curable. The hospital or doctor responsible for this error should be held accountable.

Misdiagnosis/Delayed Diagnosis

When a misdiagnosis occurs, the doctor inaccurately diagnoses the patient’s condition, and the patient then receives medical treatment for an illness they do not have while the actual illness goes untreated. 

Misdiagnosis is a common form of medical malpractice that can lead to serious health issues or even death. Often, with misdiagnosis cases, the patient will undergo unnecessary and costly treatments, which could cause harm. Meanwhile, the disease the patient actually has can get worse and become more difficult to treat when it is accurately diagnosed – if ever. 

In misdiagnosis cases, the patient can seek compensation for the harm they have suffered, the medical bills associated with improper treatment, and the pain and suffering experienced before receiving the correct treatment. 

Delayed diagnosis, on the other hand, happens when the doctor eventually makes the right diagnosis, but the patient’s prognosis could be much worse than it would have been if the doctor had made proper diagnosis to begin with. 

A delayed diagnosis can be detrimental to your overall health. For example, a doctor may treat a patient for a condition, then eventually discover and diagnose the patient with cancer. By the time the cancer is discovered, it has spread, leaving the patient to endure more invasive and costlier treatment than if the cancer was discovered earlier. In some cases, the patient may die from a disease that could have been successfully treated if it had been caught earlier.

Urgent Care Medical Malpractice

Though many urgent care facilities provide outstanding medical attention, some don’t have the personnel, expertise, or the equipment available in most emergency rooms. If you suffer harm as a result of urgent care incompetence, you may have a viable medical malpractice case.

Birth Injuries

A birth injury is when harm to an infant or mother is caused by a doctor or other medical provider’s negligence. This negligence could happen over the course of both postnatal (after childbirth) and prenatal (before birth) care, as well as during labor (the process of childbirth).

Common birth injuries due to medical malpractice include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Caput succedaneum
• Cephalohematoma
• Brachial plexus birth palsy
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage
• Cesarean section injury
• Facial paralysis
• Molar pregnancies
• Ruptured placenta
• Fractures
• Brain injuries

When an infant dies due to a complication during childbirth, it may be due to the negligence of a doctor or other medical professional. A doctor or nurse may use a tool incorrectly, or they may not be monitoring a fetus in distress, for example. If your child suffered an injury or died, our heart goes out to you during this incredibly difficult time. Allow our compassionate wrongful death attorneys to help you review your legal options.

Surgical Errors

While all surgeries carry a degree of risk, surgical medical malpractice is another form of common medical malpractice. Surgery involves negligent errors that go beyond the known risks. Surgical instruments may be inadequately sterilized or items may be left inside the patient’s body. Surgeons may even operate on the wrong surgical site.

Examples of some types of surgical errors that may constitute a medical malpractice claim include:

• Failure to diagnose a dangerous medical condition during surgery
• Mistakes made during emergency surgery
• Damaging organs during surgery
• Leaving instruments in a patient’s body
• Operating on the wrong body part
• Anesthesia errors
• Failure to fix complications during surgery
• Failure to monitor a patient for issues, such as internal bleeding or infection after the surgery

Medication Errors

Another common form of medical malpractice claim are medication errors can lead to significant harm. For example, a doctor could prescribe the wrong medication or there could be a mix-up at the pharmacy. If a medication error has compromised your quality of life, a Washington DC medical malpractice attorney can represent your interests in court.

How Can Our Washington Dc Medical Malpractice Lawyers Help?

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, medical malpractice is listed as the third leading cause of death in the U.S.—right behind heart disease and cancer. The only way to change this is to hold the hospitals and medical professionals accountable. Catie Bertram is a leader in medical malpractice law and advocates for those who have been injured or who have lost loved ones due to the preventable errors of others.

The Washington, D.C. injury lawyers at Bertram & Murphy have years of experience representing people hurt by medical malpractice. We seek justice and compensation for patients and their families who have been harmed by negligent medical errors.

If you were seriously injured due to the negligence of a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare professionals in the D.C. area, contact the highly skilled medical malpractice lawyers at Bertram & Murphy.

We offer free and confidential consultations, so you have nothing to lose by learning how our attorneys can help you seek the compensation you deserve. 

Contact us now by phone or online.