We all trust doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to care for us when we get sick or injured. Sadly, even the best doctors can make mistakes. When they do, it is their patients that suffer the consequences. This is known as medical malpractice, and it can cost people their health, their time, their money, and even their lives. Here are five reasons medical malpractice occurs:
- Mental or physical exhaustion
- Many medical professionals are asked to work long hours, sometimes being called into work on short notice. In addition, their jobs are inherently stressful, and can take a mental toll on them even at the best of times. As a result, it is not uncommon for doctors, nurses, orderlies, lab technicians, and other medical professionals to suffer from mental or physical exhaustion. This is particularly true during the COVID-19 pandemic, where they must take extra precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This stress and exhaustion all makes it more likely that they will make an error, resulting in malpractice.
- Understaffing
- To save on costs, some medical facilities will not have as many people on staff as they should. While there are regulations that are intended to prevent this kind of understaffing issue, the fact is that not everyone follows these rules. As a result, there are fewer people available to handle all of the cases or address emergencies, making it more likely they will mess up or miss something. The more understaffed the facility, the more likely it is that medical malpractice will occur.
- Lack of training or experience
- Similar to the understaffing problem, some medical facilities will hire untrained or inexperienced staff to save on labor costs. The problem is that these untrained and inexperienced staff will be more likely to mess up on the job, and there will be fewer people around to catch and address their mistakes. While these facilities could spend the money to train this staff, they often fail to do so because they would then need to pay their staff more. This lack of training and experience can lead to patients being misdiagnosed or mistreated, resulting in medical malpractice.
- Bad management
- Even with plenty of well-trained and experienced staff, bad management can cause problems that result in medical malpractice. Mismanagement can come in many forms, from failing to assign adequate staff for certain shifts, or failing to ensure there is enough equipment on hand, to simply ignoring concerns brought up by staff. While bad management does not always create problems, it can exacerbate existing ones, making medical malpractice that much more likely.
- Poor record keeping
- Keeping good records is an essential part of modern healthcare. This means keeping records of patients’ medical history, any medications they may be taking, any medical procedures they may be scheduled to undergo, and any other information that may be relevant to ensuring they receive appropriate medical care. Unfortunately, not every medical facility is as rigorous about keeping good records, or communicates medical information adequately, increasing the likelihood of medical malpractice.
The personal injury lawyers at Zlotolow & Associates pursue medical malpractice claims on behalf of people like you who need financial compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain, suffering, and more. In addition to helping clients with their medical malpractice cases in New York City, we also service The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, and Suffolk. Contact the personal injury attorneys at Zlotolow & Associates by calling us toll-free at (866) 800 – 0092, or visit our contact page for a free consultation.
