When you or a loved one enters a hospital in Philadelphia or a clinic in Harrisburg, you expect the highest level of care. However, medical errors happen more often than many people realize. These mistakes leave families facing physical pain and financial stress.
Examining National Medical Malpractice Statistics helps us see the scope of this issue across the country and within our local communities. These numbers represent real people who suffered because a healthcare professional failed to meet the standard of care.
By examining the data, we gain a clearer understanding of where the medical system falls short and how victims seek justice.
Why Choose Wapner Newman for Medical Malpractice Cases
Choosing a legal team to handle a medical error case is a major decision for any family. Wapner Newman provides the strength and local knowledge needed to handle these difficult situations throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
We know that if you are suffering from a serious injury, getting to a law office feels like an impossible task. Our firm removes this barrier by providing flexible ways to meet and discuss your rights.
- Our team will travel to your home or hospital room in Philadelphia, Allentown, or Conshohocken if you are unable to leave.
- We offer to pick you up and drive you to our office if you do not have a reliable way to get to your appointments.
- We use virtual meeting tools to connect with clients in Mount Laurel and Harrisburg without requiring them to travel.
- Our firm focuses on the needs of the 30-to-50-year-old demographic who are often managing careers and families while recovering.
- We provide a clear path forward by handling all the paperwork and evidence gathering so you focus on your physical recovery.
Wapner Newman has a long history of standing up for patients who were harmed by negligence. We treat every client with the respect they deserve and work to secure the funds needed for their future medical care. If you are struggling with the results of a doctor’s mistake, we are ready to provide the capable assistance you need. We fight for accountability in every case we take on.
Diagnostic Errors
A misdiagnosis happens when a doctor tells a patient they have a condition they do not have, or fails to tell them about a condition they do have. This is a leading cause of permanent injury and death in American hospitals.
When a doctor in a place like Philadelphia fails to recognize the signs of a heart attack or cancer, the patient loses valuable time for treatment.
Specific statistics regarding diagnostic errors include:
- A large percentage of diagnostic errors lead to permanent high-degree harm for the patient.
- Errors in diagnosing cancer are the most frequent type of misdiagnosis claim in the United States.
- Failure to diagnose infections like sepsis remains a major factor in hospital-related deaths.
- Many of these errors occur because a doctor fails to order the right test or misreads the results of an X-ray or MRI.
When a diagnosis is wrong, the patient might receive treatment they do not need, which causes its own set of problems. This error is a breach of the standard of care, which is the level of care a reasonable doctor would provide in the same situation. We work to show exactly how the medical team missed the signs that should have been obvious.
Gynecological and Obstetric Negligence
Modern healthcare has advanced in many ways, yet national medical malpractice statistics show that women still face significant risks during pregnancy and childbirth.
When a doctor fails to act with a standard level of care, the joy of a new baby is replaced by medical trauma. Our team at Wapner Newman works to hold negligent providers accountable for these preventable errors.
Common types of negligence in this field include:
- Ignoring signs of gestational diabetes or preeclampsia during regular checkups.
- Failing to recognize that a baby is in distress during a long labor.
- Improper use of delivery tools like forceps or vacuum extractors.
- Delaying a necessary C-section when the health of the mother or child is declining.
These errors often lead to long-term health problems for both the mother and the newborn.
C-sections involve intricate steps and high levels of focus. If an obstetrician and their team lack the proper training to provide a standard level of care, they put the mother and newborn in immediate danger.
According to CDC data, severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is a growing concern that affects approximately 50,000 people every year. While some of these cases occur naturally, many are linked to a failure in the medical system. Proving that a healthcare provider failed to follow the correct protocols is a primary step in seeking justice for your family.
Surgical Mistakes
Surgery is always a serious event, but patients should never have to worry about a surgeon making a preventable mistake. Never events are errors that are so serious they should never happen in a modern medical facility. These include things like performing surgery on the wrong part of the body or leaving a tool inside a patient.
Looking at surgical statistics reveals common problems:
- Wrong-site surgeries happen when a surgeon operates on the left arm instead of the right arm.
- Foreign objects left in the body after surgery lead to severe infections and the need for more operations.
- Anesthesia errors result in patients waking up during surgery or suffering from brain damage due to lack of oxygen.
- Inadequate post-operative care leads to complications that doctors should have caught early.
These errors often occur because of poor communication between members of the surgical team. In a busy Philadelphia hospital, a simple paperwork mix-up results in a life-changing injury. We investigate these events to find where the communication broke down and who is responsible.
Medication Errors
Giving a patient the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine is a frequent error. This happens at the doctor’s office, in the hospital, or at the pharmacy. Medication errors are a major part of the annual statistics because they are so common and often preventable.
Types of medication mistakes include:
- Prescribing a drug that the patient is known to be allergic to.
- Giving a patient two drugs that have a dangerous reaction when taken together.
- A nurse or technician administering the wrong dosage of a powerful painkiller.
- Failing to monitor a patient for side effects after starting a new medication.
These mistakes often result from simple typos or a lack of attention to a patient’s medical history. When a healthcare provider is tired or distracted, the chance of a medication error goes up. We hold these providers accountable for the harm caused by their lack of focus.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are among the most heartbreaking cases found in medical data. These injuries often result in permanent disabilities that require 24-hour care for the child’s entire life.
Because of the high cost of this care, birth injury claims often result in the largest payouts in the legal system.
Birth injury data often highlights:
- Cerebral palsy caused by a lack of oxygen during the delivery process.
- Erb's palsy resulting from physical trauma to the baby’s shoulder during birth.
- Failure to perform a timely C-section when the baby is in distress.
- Inadequate monitoring of the mother’s blood pressure or heart rate during labor.
Families in Harrisburg and Allentown who deal with these injuries face a difficult future. The money recovered in a lawsuit is used to pay for specialized schools, home modifications, and medical equipment. We focus on these cases because we know how much is at stake for the child and the parents.
Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
Staph and other dangerous infections often appear in National Medical Malpractice Statistics when hospitals fail to maintain a clean environment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one out of every 25 patients in a hospital setting acquires a healthcare-associated infection (HAI).
While these facilities have a duty to keep you safe, many patients leave the hospital in a worse condition than when they arrived.
Frequent types of infections reported in medical settings include:
- Pneumonia, which affects the lungs and makes breathing difficult.
- Gastrointestinal illnesses that impact the digestive system.
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by improper catheter use.
- Bloodstream infections that lead to systemic issues like sepsis.
These conditions develop when medical staff members fail to follow sanitation protocols or use unsterilized equipment. When a facility ignores basic cleanliness, the risks to the patient increase significantly. Our team at Wapner Newman investigates these failures to ensure that hospitals are held responsible for the harm they cause.
Establishing Liability Using National Medical Malpractice Statistics
To win a medical malpractice case, you must prove that the doctor was liable. Liability means the doctor is legally responsible for the harm they caused. This involves more than just showing that a surgery was unsuccessful.
Steps to prove liability in a malpractice case:
- Establishing that a doctor-patient relationship existed at the time of the error.
- Proving that the doctor breached the standard of care.
- Showing that the breach of care was the direct cause of the patient’s injury.
- Providing evidence of the specific damages the patient suffered.
We work with skilled medical authorities to review the facts of your case. These authorities explain to a jury what the doctor should have done differently. This testimony is a major factor in proving that negligence occurred.
FAQs
Do statistics show that most malpractice cases go to trial?
No, the data indicates that the vast majority of medical malpractice claims are settled out of court. A settlement is an agreement where the insurance company pays a certain amount of money to avoid a trial. Only a small percentage of cases actually end up in front of a judge and jury.
What if my doctor is a good person who just made a mistake?
The legal system is not about whether a doctor is a good person; it is about who should pay for the costs of an injury. If a doctor’s mistake leaves you with $100,000 in medical bills, it is not fair for you to pay that cost. Malpractice insurance exists specifically to cover these errors.
How do I know if my injury is considered malpractice?
Not every bad outcome in a hospital is malpractice. For it to be a legal case, the healthcare provider must have failed to follow the accepted standard of care. This means they did something that other trained doctors would not have done. A legal review of your medical records is the best way to find out.
Can I sue a hospital as well as the doctor?
In many cases, yes. If the doctor was an employee of the hospital, the hospital is often responsible for the doctor’s actions. You might also sue the hospital directly if the facility was understaffed, had broken equipment, or failed to properly check the doctor's background before hiring them.
Why are birth injury payouts so much higher than other cases?
Birth injury cases result in high payouts because they must cover the cost of a lifetime of care. If a baby is injured at birth, they may need special medical help for 70 or 80 years. This includes therapy, specialized housing, and round-the-clock nursing care, which adds up to a very large amount of money.
Secure Your Future with Wapner Newman Today
The data surrounding medical errors is startling, but you are not a statistic. You are a person who deserves quality care and a fair path to recovery. If you have been harmed by a medical professional in Philadelphia, Allentown, or Mount Laurel, Wapner Newman offers the strength and capable assistance you need. We hold negligent healthcare providers accountable and secure the compensation your family requires.
We make your needs our priority. Contact Wapner Newman today to discuss your case with a dedicated medical malpractice lawyer and take the first step toward the justice you deserve.