There are many reasons that medical malpractice takes place. Doctors make mistakes, they don’t provide proper care, they act negligently, etc. However, when you really break it down, you can trace most of these cases back to just one root cause.
Judgment errors
One study looked at medical malpractice claims, considering a massive total of 55,377 cases. This was certainly enough data to draw some conclusions about why these cases took place. What they found that was a full 86% of the cases could be traced back to judgment errors.
This study was reported on in the Washington Post, and the claims involved were only those serious enough to lead to disability or death. Examples of judgment errors include:
- Misinterpretations
- Knowledge gaps
- Implicit bias
- Inattention
People often think of medical science as something that is firmly rooted in facts. A doctor should see a patient, consider their symptoms, and match them up with a disorder. This diagnosis tells them what care to provide.
While that is the idea, the truth is that doctors have to make all sorts of judgment calls while looking at these facts. It’s not nearly as simple as connecting the factual dots, and there is always going to be that element of human input. This, in turn, opens the door for human error. When doctors make mistakes, it is their patients who wind up paying the price.
Your options
Did you go see a doctor, only to have a mistake change your life? You may be able to seek financial compensation for all of the costs associated with that error.
