Investigating Hospital Mistakes in Detroit, MI

Goodman Acker P.C. Can Help You Take Legal Action

Even with today’s highly advanced medical technology, mistakes at hospitals, including medical centers in the Detroit area, are all too common — both within and outside the operating room. Unfortunately, according to the Journal of Patient Safety, up to 440,000 patients who go to the hospital each year suffer some type of harm that contributes to their death.

In fact, hospital mistakes are the third leading cause of death in America. However, unlike the other leading causes of death — heart disease and cancer — death and injury from hospital mistakes are preventable. Those hospital mistakes are known as medical malpractice. If you have been harmed by medical malpractice, we at Goodman Acker P.C. can help you take immediate legal action.

We have obtained the following successful results:

• A $337,500 settlement in Wayne County, Michigan against a hospital for failure to timely diagnose tongue cancer
• A $592,500 settlement in Wayne County, Michigan, for a male patient based on a failure to timely diagnose and treat infection.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is defined as improper, unskilled, or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, nurse, or other type of healthcare professional. When you are receiving treatment, medical professionals owe you a duty to provide competent care. Medical malpractice can occur through an act of negligence, such as an operating room error during surgery or a dosage error in a prescription medication. It can occur at any stage in the treatment process and may involve many types of hospital workers, including doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists or lab technicians.

Common Types of Hospital Mistakes

Some of the most common types of hospital mistakes we’ve seen in Michigan include:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. A large percentage of hospital mistakes are the result of patients being either misdiagnosed or diagnosed late, resulting in missed opportunities for treatment that could have prevented more serious illness or injury, or even the patient’s death.
• Incorrect medications or dosages. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million people each year are affected by incorrect medication dosages in the U.S., either by a doctor writing an incorrect dosage amount on a prescription, or by having an improper amount of medication administered.
• Anesthesia errors. Anesthesia errors can take many forms, such as the failure to investigate a patient’s medical history for possible allergies or complications, or by not informing a patient of the risks that can take place if pre-operative instructions are not followed. Even minor errors when using anesthesia may result in brain damage, permanent injury or death.
• Errors during surgery. A multitude of errors could occur during a patient’s surgery. For example, a surgeon could be negligent during the operation itself and puncture a vital organ, or the operating staff could make a mistake during or after the actual procedure, resulting in infection or other serious complications.
• Failure to timely respond to emergency treatment. Failing to respond in a timely manner to emergency treatment is also a common hospital mistake that could result in further injury, or even unnecessary death.
• Performance of unnecessary procedures. The performance of unnecessary procedures is another serious hospital mistake. In addition to the physical pain and suffering that unnecessary medical procedures can cause, these situations are also financially costly.

Take the Next Step with Your Hospital Mistake Claim

Proving medical malpractice in Michigan is challenging and requires an attorney familiar with hospital mistake claims. Goodman Acker P.C. is the firm you need. We’ve handled countless medical malpractice claims in the Detroit metro area — and we can help you too. Because medical malpractice cases have strict time limits for filing legal claims, it is important to move forward with your case as soon as you believe malpractice has occurred.

LEGALLY REVIEWED BY BARRY J. GOODMAN

Barry J. Goodman has devoted his professional life to keeping courthouse doors open for victims seeking justice. Always a tireless advocate for his own clients, Goodman sees his responsibility as a Detroit personal injury attorney in a broader sense as well.