Medical malpractice injuries and cases are some of the things that courts face on a daily basis. Aside from the health care providers; nurses, doctors, physicians, etc. Handling their patients with such negligence as to subject their patients to injuries, these medical malpractice injuries can sometimes be so grave that they even lead to the deaths of the patients who were the victims in this case. In the U.S. alone, about 440,000 people die each year as a result of the negligence of a healthcare practitioner. But not all mistakes can be summed as negligence, as there are some errors which usually occur over and over which have also largely contributed to the high number of deaths which could have, otherwise, been preventable. Here are some common causes of medical malpractice claims that medical malpractice lawyer Toronto has dealt with:

1. Failure to obtain informed consent

All medical errors that occur, especially in the patients where informed consent was not obtained by the health care provider are subject to a medical malpractice claim. The physician or health care nurse needs to seek the consent from the patient or immediate relative or spouse, if the patient is not in a position to give approval, of any medical attention being provided to the patient. The healthcare provider also needs to make the patient or immediate family of the expected outcome, reasonable alternatives, and potential risks of the treatments and ensure that the person or people giving the consent are fully aware of what the treatment or procedure entails.

2. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, or even a delay in diagnosis

You find that there are some situations and or scenarios where tests from labs and hospitals show false negative results which can be very dangerous, especially to the patient had some chronic disease which is life-threatening.

3. Negligent procedures or surgical errors

Even the health care providers are human, and we need to acknowledge the fact that they also get exhausted and tired sometimes and during this time, even the procedural training and medical school stuff go down the drain. A patient can end up suffering and pay for the lack of sleep or stress of the healthcare provider handling his/her case.

4. Negligent misdiagnosis and wrongful diagnosis of an injury

There are cases where you will find a doctor assuming that a fracture or trauma is minor when, in fact, it is the complete opposite. And this wrongful diagnosis can end up subjecting the victim to a lot of pain which would have, otherwise, has been avoided.

5. Failure to consult on time or delay in diagnosis

Some cases have also found doctors and nurses failing or hesitating to make referrals on time about patients that need further medical attention than the one they can provide. Situations like these can end up putting the patients in situations where they are subjected to a lot of pain.

6. Medication malpractice or errors

These can result as a result of the doctor’s or nurse’s negligence when administering a drug or any other form of treatment to the patient, which can end up exposing the patient to more harm and injuries.

7. Negligent maternity or birth injury, malpractice

The two most common birth injuries or defects usually occur from the use of excessive oxytocin, which is usually used to help relieve the newborns from stress. It is stuff like this that can end up causing significant damage to the newborn’s health.