Any time a person steps foot into a hospital or medical facility, the medical professionals in that facility must provide a certain standard of care to the patient no matter what.
These medical professionals can include surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and even internal medicine physicians.
Whether it is a routine doctor’s appointment or a scheduled surgical procedure, the physician at hand is responsible for your health and well-being. Medical malpractice injuries can range from emotional damage to severe injury or death.
What is standard of care?
The definition for standard of care is the level of care provided by a physician that is deemed as reasonable care based on the patient and circumstances.
If this standard of care is breached by a medical professional, it may result in medical negligence and injury to a patient. In order to pursue a medical malpractice claim, failure to provide the standard of care must be established.
A new study by The Doctors Company indicates internal medicine physicians are more likely to be sued for medical malpractice compared to other medical specialists.
According to the 1,180 closed medical malpractice claims studied, 39% of these were related to failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis. Other claims against internists include delay or failure to order diagnostic tests and errors in medication.
These results not only show how injuries resulted in the malpractice claims but also includes where they occurred. Many people think medical negligence typically occurs in hospitals, but the study indicates over half of the claims occurred in an office or clinic setting (57%) while 37% happened in hospitals, 5% in nursing home facilities, and 4% in other facilities.
If you feel the standard of care has been breached by a medical professional and resulted in an injury to you or a loved one, I urge you to call me immediately.
As your Cleveland, Ohio medical malpractice attorney, I will fight for you. I’ll be there for you, and I’ll Make Them Pay! ®
Author: Tim Misny | For over four decades, personal injury lawyer Tim Misny has represented the injured victim in in birth injury, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury/wrongful death cases, serving “Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Columbus, Dayton and neighboring communities.” You can reach Tim by email at misnylaw.com/ask-tim-a-question/ or call at 1 (800) 556-4769.
