Medicine is becoming more specialized, and patients often have a list of doctors they see on a regular basis. If you go to any of the hospitals or medical centers in the Cleveland area, you will certainly see full waiting rooms in the many professional suites.
When you visit a specialist, you probably feel you are seeing a doctor whose skill and expertise places him or her above your primary care giver, at least in that particular practice area. However, you may be interested to know that doctors with medical specialties often face many medical malpractice claims. Certain specialties rank higher than others do in accusations of doctor error.
Specializing in medical errors
Some studies of medicine involve patients who have many risk factors, so it is not uncommon for those doctors to experience a high rate of patient mortality or injury. For example, neurosurgeons and cardiovascular surgeons have the highest rate of malpractice lawsuits, mostly resulting from accidental injury during surgery. You can imagine the damage a doctor can do if he or she injures your brain or heart.
Many doctors in a variety of specialties face malpractice claims because they fail to make proper or timely diagnoses. If you suffered grave injuries or a loved one died because a doctor missed obvious symptoms of a serious illness, you can understand someone’s desire to seek compensation through a lawsuit. Some specialties that commonly deal with lawsuits claiming failure to diagnose include:
- Oncology
- Pulmonary medicine
- Obstetrics
- Gastroenterology
- General surgery
You may also be among those whose surgical specialist left them suffering from post-operative complications, particularly infection. Some specialists liable to face those charges include urologists, plastic surgeons, thoracic surgeons and general surgeons.
Your rights following a medical mistake
Statistics also show that male doctors face medical malpractice lawsuits 2.5 times more often than females, and you may agree with analysts who theorize that female doctors communicate better than male doctors. Communication, in fact, is one of the most common causes for malpractice claims. Miscommunication between you and your doctor may lead to incorrect dosages in medication, poor post-operative care or even suffering the consequences of an operation on the wrong part of your body.
You certainly expect the highest quality of care from your doctors and specialists because anything less may mean devastating injuries and loss. If you suffer because of a medical mistake, you have the right to address the situation in a civil court.
