Examples of Orthopedic Malpractice: Kingston Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Types of Orthopedic Malpractice, Explained by our Kingston Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Orthopedics is the specialty of medicine which pertains to muscular, skeletal, and overall structural health and integrity of the body.  It studies and treats tendons, bones, muscles, ligaments, and other supporting and structural systems in the body.  Most orthopedists are also surgeons, or orthopedic surgeons, and will perform necessary surgeries to repair damage to structural components of the body.  While orthopedists are not the most commonly sued doctors, and generally most do a great job, there are some orthopedists that do commit orthopedic malpractice.  And some of the medical errors are horrible instances of New York medical malpractice.

There are a few different ways that there could be orthopedic malpractice.  These are generally the following:

• Failing to diagnosis;
• Improper treatment;
• Surgical errors;
• Procedure mishaps; or
• Bad medical advice.

These errors could be New York orthopedic malpractice for several reasons.  This is because they can result in serious and permanent injuries.  These injuries could result in significant disability and even wrongful death for surgical error mistakes.  Here is an explanation of the common Orthopedic malpractice errors:

What is an Orthopedic Failure to Diagnose Error? – This occurs when a healthcare provider fails to detect, identify, and diagnosis a condition or injury.  For an orthopedist, this could mean failure to diagnose an injury such as broken bone or torn tendon.  When this is not diagnosed, a patient could use control of this tendon which may never properly heal and become unusable.  Broken bones may heal wrong and need to be re-broken.

Improper Treatment – Even if a condition is diagnosed, improperly treating the condition could cause more damage.  For instance, putting on a cast too tight could result in even more damage to the blood vessels, nerves, and other structures near the broken bone.  Thus, improper treatment could be medical malpractice and orthopedic malpractice.

Surgical Errors and Procedural Mishaps – Slipping with a scalpel or putting a cortisone shot in the wrong spot could cause serious injuries.  Taking too long to perform a surgery or improperly performing it could also result in serious injuries and even wrongful death.  Procedural mistakes like injections could permanently damage nerves and result in extreme pain.

What Constitutes Bad Medical Advice from an Orthopedist? – This may sound like something basic and a catch-all, but it is not.  Orthopedists frequently deal with athletes who are pushing their bodies.  Patients seek good medical advice.  Most times they get it.  But sometimes they don’t.  An orthopedist who says that a patient with arm pain can continue to play in a sport, when the patient should not continue and should take a rest period, is giving bad medical advice if the patient plays through the pain and now damages the muscle permanently or hurts other structures.  This bad medical advice could end up causing additional surgeries, treatment, and other procedures that the patient would not necessarily need to undergo but did undergo and is suffering greatly from now.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.