Pediatric Malpractice: What Parents Should Know

While the hospitals and healthcare institutions in the United States are known around the globe for their cutting-edge technology and superior medical care, accidents and mistakes still happen. Doctors delay diagnosis, make surgical errors, misdiagnose, and prescribe wrong medication. There is no doubt that when it comes to children, parents are extremely protective. It is the worst nightmare of every parent when something happens to their bundle of joy. What makes the situation worse is when the harm is caused by the hands of the medical professional you trusted to treat your child and return their health back to normal.

Types of Pediatric Malpractice

Just like medical malpractice takes place in adults, this type of malpractice happens due to the negligence of pediatricians and their staff. Here are some common types of pediatric malpractice cases that parents should be aware of:

1. Medication Errors

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), medication errors constitute 5 percent of all pediatric malpractice cases. Moreover, doctors are at-fault for prescribing wrong medication 69 percent of the time, while nurses and pharmacies are at-fault 13 percent and 8 percent of the time. Medication errors arise in four ways, such as ordering, administration, dispensing, and transcription. Parents should ask the doctor about the purpose of each medication, and monitor every time nurses administer them to ensure the wellbeing of their child.

2. Appendicitis

The AAP has found that in about 27 percent cases, appendicitis is misdiagnosed in infants. Female patients are more susceptible as the symptoms of this disease are related to urinary tract infection or pelvic inflammatory disease. These cases are mostly mishandled as the doctors fail to properly diagnose this disease. Since the infant doesn’t get proper treatment at the right time and the disease develops to an advanced stage, it becomes very difficult to treat, leading to further complications.

3. Meningitis

This is the most common illness observed in pediatric malpractice cases, according to the AAP. Since meningitis is quite difficult to diagnose, most of the medical malpractice lawsuits are related to it. When an infant develops symptoms of meningitis and is detected in its early stages by the pediatrician, its effects are reversible. However, when they misread the symptoms, the infant’s health starts to deteriorate over time, as the disease advances into a later stage. In such a case, it becomes extremely difficult to cure the illness.

Proving Negligence

For proving pediatric malpractice, the parents must be able to establish that pediatrician’s negligence caused preventable harm to the patient. This damage can be in several forms, such as cost of present and future medical care, pain and suffering, and several others. You will need to hire an experienced medical malpractice attorney to help you build a strong case against the responsible party, and ensure you get the compensation you deserve for your child.

If your child has been a victim of pediatric malpractice, you should talk to an attorney to help you with gathering evidence and provide aggressive representation. Contact Fisk & Monteleone Ltd. today at 815-209-9030 to schedule a free case consultation with one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys.