Many hospital patients in New Jersey are injured and killed by preventable medical errors. In fact, studies have shown that preventable medical errors in hospitals are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. According to a report that appeared in the Journal of Patient Safety, between 200,000 and 400,000 people die each year as a result of a preventable hospital error.
Fatal hospital errors can occur for a number of different reasons. A doctor may misdiagnose a patient, perform the wrong operation on a patient or injure a patient’s organs during surgery. Some patients die from medication errors when they are given the wrong type of medication or the wrong dosage of a medication. Hospital-acquired infections are also a leading cause of hospital deaths in the U.S.
When a patient dies from a preventable hospital error, the cost to the patient’s family is immeasurable. The annual financial cost of preventable hospital errors in the U.S. is somewhere between $15 and $19 billion. One study showed that the actual numbers of preventable hospital errors might be higher than what is officially reported. The study found that it is common for physicians to not report serious medical errors, and patients report three times more preventable hospital errors than what is shown in their medical records.
A patient who was injured because of a preventable hospital error may choose to file a personal injury lawsuit. An attorney may help a patient in this position by gathering evidence of medical malpractice from medical records and identifying all of the medical professionals who were responsible.
If you or a loved one has been harmed due to a medical professionals negligence contact the Cherry Hill medical malpractice lawyers at the offices of Folkman Law P.C. For a free case review call 856-354-9444.
