Why Is Medical Malpractice Still So Prevalent?
Medical malpractice is one of the most devastating forms of personal injury. Your doctor, whom you 
literally trust with your life, has caused you or a loved one injury in some way. While often medical malpractice does not lead to serious harm. The use of wrong medication may lead to sickness, or a misdiagnosis may lead to future hospital visits. However, in some cases, a wrong limb may be amputated, or an error may even lead to death.
Every day, doctors and hospitals are working toward reducing the number of medical malpractice instances in their facilities. Increased scrutiny within hospital walls were expected to drop the rate of malpractice cases. However, the raw number of instances seems to be staying pretty much the same. No matter what hospitals do, they don’t seem to be able to fully eliminate the problems. But why?
Numbers and Bureaucracy
When the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. “Obamacare,” was signed into law in 2010, it was met with sharp division across the aisles. Conservatives claimed it was a socialist move that would bankrupt the country; liberals celebrated it, with a critique it did not go far enough. Regardless of the political arguments, it has led to more Americans being insured than ever before. Though this sounds like a great step forward, for doctors, it can be something of a curse.
More and more people visit hospitals every year. Yet, the number of doctors in the United States has stayed relatively the same. That means doctors are seeing more patients, leading to exhaustion and poor judgment. More patients are being misdiagnosed and given the wrong medication, which inevitably leads to more medical malpractice cases.
The bureaucracy that came with the Affordable Care Act has also taken a toll. Doctors must now spend much more time filling out paperwork. That leaves much less time to actually see patients. So though you may be at the doctor’s office for hours, you may only see the physician for a few minutes. In fact, the average time a doctor spends with a patient is 13 to 16 minutes. For more complicated conditions, patients may find themselves having to make multiple visits to actually get an accurate diagnosis.
Hospital Conditions
Perhaps the most common reason patients suffer from medical malpractice is outpatient infections. Despite increased scrutiny, hospitals still deal with unsanitary conditions. That’s not to say facilities are unclean. Rather, patients are sometimes placed too close together. For instance, dialysis patients that do not have enough space around them may accidentally splatter blood, leading to a spreading of infections.
In addition, some dialysis machines are not sanitized properly. Hepatitis B patients are not kept separate from other patients as they should be, and when more patients are admitted than allowed, the disease can spread quickly. Though these results were documented in Boston, any hospital in a highly populated area could be at risk.
So what can you do? If you have the option, find a hospital where nurses and doctors don’t seem to be hurrying around everywhere. You will want a medical staff that has time for you. If you cannot, make sure the doctor explains everything to you, down to why they are giving you ibuprofen instead of Tylenol.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice in Redlands or the surrounding area, contact MBLK Law Firm today. During your free initial consultation, we will discuss the details of your case and your legal options. Call now.
Stephen Levine, is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Defense — an honor achieved by only the top criminal law attorneys in California. Mr. Levine has over 40 years of experience in criminal defense and family law serving Southern California, and is a highly regarded Super Lawyer as well as AV Rated attorney.