Wrongful Death as a Result of Medical Malpractice

Sadly, it seems doctors may kill nearly as many patients as they save. Based on studies from a number of different research groups, including the Institute of Medicine, as many as 200,000 Americans may die every year as a result of preventable medical errors, legally described as medical malpractice resulting in wrongful death. That would make it the third leading cause of death in this country, after heart disease and cancer.

Part of the problem goes beyond doctors, but to a culture of for-profit medicine, where a doctor's time becomes a commodity that has to be carefully invested, not too much in any one patient, but spread around. When we look at the common causes of death due to preventable medical error, it's easy to see that a little more attention and time would go a long way:

• Failure to diagnose or treat
• Unexpected death in a low-risk hospitalization
• Pressure sores
• Pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis after surgery
• Respiratory failure after surgery

More of a doctor's time spent listening to patients and looking at their charts, could easily lead to more successful diagnosis and treatment of conditions that can be hard to identify. Better screening of patients for risk conditions would reduce "unexpected deaths." Time spent turning bedridden patients, especially nursing home patients, will reduce the incidence of bedsores. And screening of patients before surgery and monitoring after surgery will reduce anesthesia errors that result in death.

Unfortunately, for-profit medicine doesn't hear your cries of grief. It doesn't care about your loss of a treasured loved one. For-profit medicine only listens when money talks. A medical malpractice lawsuit is a way to express your grief, your loss, and your anger in a language that for-profit medicine can hear and understand.

To learn more about seeking compensation with a medical malpractice lawsuit, please contact The Cochran Firm South Florida, helping victims in and around Miami, Florida.