How serious of an issue is medical malpractice in the United States?
By almost any empirical measure, the answer to that question is sobering, if not flatly troubling: Mistakes made by medical professionals that contribute directly to patient injuries are common and persistent in medical facilities across the country.
In fact, we note on a relevant page of our personal injury website at the Westlake Village law firm of Vititoe Law Group, LLC, that medical negligence “is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States.”
The universe of medical malpractice is wide, indeed, with patients in California and across the country suffering from myriad medical acts or omissions that negligently inflict harm. Misdiagnosis is a huge problem. So, too, are hospital-acquired infections and medication errors.
Birth-related injuries are also a constant concern across the country. In today’s post, we focus on a condition called hypoxia, which is marked by an inadequate flow of oxygen to a baby’s brain prior to, during or following delivery.
A central point to note about hypoxia, as pointed out in an online hypoxia primer, is that material medical advancements in recent years have made it far easier than in bygone decades for doctors and delivery team members to timely identify and treat this serious condition. Given that salutary development, truly serious hypoxia-related outcomes should be relatively rare.
In fact, and as noted in the above overview, serious hypoxia injuries might reasonably be linked to medical malpractice, given that the condition is so often preventable. “[H]ypoxia that progresses into permanent injury,” states the overview, “can be the result of medical negligence on the part of the doctor or other health care professionals.”
A birth injury or other medical malpractice case can be — and typically is — a complex and time-sensitive matter. A person with questions or concerns regarding hospital or doctor negligence can obtain candid advice and aggressive legal representation aimed at fully promoting the rights of an injured party and his or her family from a proven plaintiffs’ malpractice attorney.
