Addressing Medical Negligence: Is It More Common than We Think?

It may surprise you to learn that the third most common cause of death in the U.S. is reputed to be medical negligence. The figures vary on the actual average number of deaths due to medical negligence each year. A John Hopkins study put the number at approximately 250,000 but other sources suggest it’s over 400,000 cases annually.

The situation is so dire that the doctors involved with the John Hopkins study even asked the CDC to mandate a change to how death certificates are used for data collection purposes, to make it easier to spot irregularities; we are still waiting for that change to happen.

Cases Happen in Any City

The city of Easton, Pennsylvania is where Crayola crayons are manufactured, and it scores high on its livability rating. It’s perhaps it’s the last place you’d expect to find issues with medical malpractice, but it can happen anywhere.

Also, it’s worth pointing out that malpractice can occur in a hospital, a clinic, a nursing home and many other places where care is provided to a patient. Take childbirth, for instance. There are many injuries to the newborn during childbirth that are completely unnecessary. Easton personal injury lawyer Matthew Trapani suggests that parents stay alert during the birthing process for anything untoward and subsequently look for issues resulting from a bad procedure.

Birth defects from errors in the delivery room can leave a child with brain damage due to a lack of oxygen, prolonged nerve damage into adulthood, or suffering from stunted growth or debilitating cerebral palsy. In the worst cases, parents can lose their baby.