Missouri has many highly skilled surgeons, physicians, nurses, lab technicians and other medical professionals. When a person entrusts his or her health to a medical team, he or she can expect quality care. A patient can also expect that those providing care and treatment will act in accordance with state laws and accepted safety standards of the industry. Sadly, medical malpractice due to “never events” is a recurring problem throughout the state.
A never event occurs when a patient suffers serious injury or illness in a medical incident that is preventable and has occurred due to a team member’s negligence. In short, it’s something that never should have happened. The medical team might include those in immediate attendance, such as a doctor or nurse, as well as lab workers, hospital administrators and others. When a never event results in serious injury or illness, a patient may have grounds to file a medical malpractice claim in civil court.
What are the most common types of never events?
The following list shows several issues that the average medical team knows how to prevent, which often lead to serious errors resulting in injury when one or more parties are negligent in their duty to keep patients safe:
- Surgical errors, including wrong-patient surgeries, wrong-site surgeries, wrong procedures and foreign objects left inside a body
- Medication errors
- Infections due to catheters
- Injuries caused by the wrong blood type in a transfusion
Medical team members are professionals who have had specialized training in their area of service or expertise. They know how to avoid errors like these, which may not only cause illness or injury but place a patient’s life at risk.
What to do if a never event occurs because of medical malpractice
A Missouri medical patient who has suffered an injury due to a never event or any type of medical negligence may be entitled to file a medical malpractice claim to seek restitution for damages. Claims like this often include multiple defendants. Because such litigation is complex and highly stressful, it is always best to seek legal support before heading to court.