Medical malpractice is a growing concern in Illinois. When a doctor knowingly acts or refuses to act according to normal accepted procedure and causes injury to the patient, the victim may be eligible for compensation for medical negligence. Studies have been conducted to assess patterns of medical negligence in order to identify problem areas to stop injury from happening.
One of the most severe cases of medical negligence occurs during surgery when a surgeon performs an error in judgment or any physical error that can be directly traced back to the hands of the surgeon or medical practitioner. Medical negligence costs Illinois residents thousands of dollars every year, so making hospitals safe and holding surgeons responsible is both a moral and financial imperative. Studies conducted to better understand the reason for medical negligence in various cases beyond the statistics find that errors are caused due to various factors, including lack of communication or even lack of specialized surgeons needed for emergency cases.
Technical faults may also make medical practitioners and hospitals liable for medical negligence as well. Technical errors can cause severe pain and disability to the victim. While 49 percent of technical errors during surgery left victims disabled for life, 16 percent were fatal. Initiatives have been taken by Illinois authorities to prevent such errors in the medical operating rooms, including stricter legal vigilance, encouraging better teamwork among medical practitioners and awareness campaigns for both medical teams and patients.
Studies showed that most technical errors contributing to patient injuries were made by trained surgeons. Many victims were injured during routine medical procedures and any errors in judgment may also fall within the purview of medical negligence. A judge and jury may be able to help victims of medical negligence obtain justice, if not healing, through a court of law.
Source: NLM.NIH.gov, “Patterns in technical error among surgical malpractice claims: an analysis of strategies to prevent injury to surgical patients,” Accessed on Nov. 7, 2014
