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Professional Negligence |
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Medical Malpractice
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Approximately 0.75% of all patients admitted into hospitals each
year receive negligent treatments worthy of medical malpractice
cases. Furthermore, between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in
hospitals each year from preventable causes due to the negligence of
a doctor. According to data from the National Practitioner Data
Bank, 5.1% of medical doctors account for a massive 54.2% of medical
malpractice payouts. Of the approximately 35,000 doctors who have
had two or more malpractice cases since 1990, a mere 7.6% have been
disciplined by the state. This pattern of undisciplined recurring
malpractice is certainly frightening, especially when the
consequences for innocent patients are death. Common forms of
medical malpractice include: |
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Misdiagnosis
Delayed diagnosis
Birth Injuries
Surgical Injuries
Incorrect Procedure |
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While the
aforementioned forms of medical malpractice are unintentional, there
are many forms of medical misconduct which constitute a medical
malpractice case. A highly prevalent example of such is sexual
misconduct. In a major survey six to ten percent of psychiatrists
confessed to engaging in sexual contact with a patient at some point
in their careers. |
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Nursing Home Abuse
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shocking thirty percent of all nursing homes in America have been
cited for legitimate instances of abuse. Even scarier is the fact
that the majority of instances of nursing home abuse go unreported.
Nursing home abuse includes anything from negligent malpractice to
assault and battery. The following is a brief list of commonly
reported instances of nursing home abuse: |
Unexplained
injuries
Sexual assault/Rape
Inadequate/Too much medication
Unauthorized use of physical or chemical restraints
Dehydration/Malnutrition
Unnecessarily confining the elderly to their rooms
Unsanitary conditions
Infections
Verbal/emotional abuse
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It is important to
learn about a nursing home before putting your loved one in its
care. Information can be found in your state’s department of health
website, including a list of substantiated claims regarding various
nursing homes. If you believe you or your loved one has become a
victim of nursing home abuse, it is important to act fast: cases of
nursing home abuse can be very hard to prove, but haste can bring
the odds on your favor.
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