When you enter an Ohio hospital for medical treatment, you can reasonably expect that any and all licensed caregivers will act according to the highest level of accepted standards to keep you safe. Many procedures or treatments involve risk, and it’s up to your doctor to make sure you are aware of such issues.
It’s another story altogether if your doctor knows that you are at risk for injury and does not tell you or if he or she fails to keep you safe because of his or her own negligent behavior. The more you know about medical errors ahead of time, the more proactive you can be by asking questions and closely observing what is happening in connection with your care. If a doctor, nurse, practitioner or other staff member does something or fails to do something that results in your injury, Ohio law allows you to seek justice.
Medical mistakes that are often avoidable
Especially if you have to stay in the hospital for several days or longer, you will likely have numerous staff members tending to your needs. The following list shows common medical errors that are typically easily avoidable but can cause moderate to severe injuries if they occur:
- While you might not think of falling down in terms of medical errors, this is actually one of the most common types of negligence that may occur during your hospital stay. If you suffer an injury in a fall while in the hospital, you are among at least one million other patients who have suffered similar injuries.
- Do you know that approximately 14,000 medical patients die every year from misuse of antibiotics? This is another common medical error that places you at great risk for infection and possible life-threatening situations.
- In addition to antibiotic misuse, medication errors in general account for a great number of medical negligence situations that cause Ohio patients injuries.
- If possible, you should be up and moving a bit each day to help you achieve the fullest recovery possible. If your care providers neglect this need and leave you lying sedentary all day, every day, your condition may get worse instead of better.
It’s understandable that you’d feel frustrated and angry, even betrayed, if a doctor, nurse or other medical staff member provides substandard care that causes you to suffer infection or other related illness or injury. After all, you go to the hospital to get better, not worse.
Restitution available
Many injured medical patients seek financial recovery for their losses by filing medical malpractice claims in civil court. If you have to seek further medical care because of something that happens while you’re in the hospital that should have never happened, you might need to take more medication or, perhaps, even have surgery to treat the condition or injuries that one or more staff members caused you to suffer. You shouldn’t have to bear the full financial burden of any costs associated with such incidents.