Everyone makes mistakes on the job. You could hire a plumber and they can make a mistake putting in new pipes. You can go to the doctor and they can make a mistake treating you. Medical professionals are not exempt from making errors on the job.
Unfortunately, a lot of these errors have very serious ramifications. And many of them stem from avoidable mistakes and events that never should’ve occurred in the first place. The result is that far more people pass away from medical malpractice than the general public realizes.
The third leading cause of death
In some studies, it’s been estimated that up to 440,000 people die every year due to medical errors. Some claim that it’s only around 250,000, and it does vary from year to year. But the important thing to take away from this is that statistics in this range are going to make medical malpractice the third leading cause of death in the United States.
That’s the point where a lot of people realize how serious this issue is. Yes, doctors may make mistakes from time to time. But if they are really taking more lives than everything except for cancer and heart disease, doesn’t that mean something has to be done? How is it that people are getting such a low level of care that errors are leading to fatal complications so often?
Exactly how these mistakes happen is going to be different from case to case, but you can see from the statistics themselves that you do face some serious risks when working with your medical team. If you are injured or if you lose a loved one, you need to know what legal steps you can take to seek proper compensation.