Alabama Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice refers to an act of negligence or intentional misconduct by a professional health care provider, which may result in further injury to the patient and even death. Some examples of medical malpractice are surgical errors (operating in the wrong area, removing the wrong part or organ, leaving surgical instruments in the body such as sponges, or performing unnecessary surgery), dental malpractice, Anesthesia errors, birth injuries, misdiagnosis (failure to prescribe necessary tests or perform proper evaluations, misdiagnosis of cancer or delay in diagnosing cancer and other medical conditions, and failure to refer to a specialist), institutional sexual abuse, nursing home abuse, and medication errors (improper prescriptions for example).

According to a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences, each year about 98,000 hospital patients are killed due to medical errors. When you consider the number of individuals that are treated by physicians and not hospitalized then the numbers could be very large. Statistics conducted in a study done by Harvard University revealed that about 1% of patients treated in New York hospitals were injured due to negligence with 25% of those resulting in death.

If these numbers were translated nationally this would result in an estimated 234,000 injuries and 80,000 deaths per year. Some causes of medical malpractice can be excessive work hours, inadequate training, substance abuse, and errors in judgment.  If you have been injured as a result of professional malpractice then give our medical malpractice lawyer a call today at (205) 201-1789 for a free consultation.

You should be able to expect a safe environment with professionals providing adequate care when seeking medical treatment. However, while most doctors and hospitals provide such care, a very few make an outrageous number of negligent acts. Five percent of doctors and hospital staff make up more than 50% of the medical malpractice claims.

Medical malpractice actions must be commenced within 2 years of the act or omission or, if not immediately discovered, within six months of the date the injury was or should have been discovered. For minors, all actions must be brought within four years, but if the victim is less than four years old then the action may be filed any time before their 8th birthday

This means that if you are injured, then you generally have two years to file a claim or you will be forever barred from recovering for your injuries. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of medical negligence, then give our Alabama medical malpractice attorney a call for a free consultation at (205) 201-1789.