When you or a loved one need to get to a hospital, do you take the time to check online ratings before you choose where to go? That is unlikely. You probably just get where you need to be to get treatment. However, we know that a hospital’s ratings can tell us about the quality of care you will receive.
At Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt, we are ready to help when you need a Hawaii medical malpractice attorney. We will investigate what happened and do everything we can to secure the compensation you deserve.
Seeking Medical Care In Hawaii
We know that you do not want to think about whether or not you are at a safe hospital. They should all be operating at a high level of care. However, we know that is not always the case. A recent article from USA Today tells us that some hospitals are much more dangerous than others.
Leapfrog is a non-profit organization that rates hospitals and they have found some alarming data. Since 2016, some of the country’s most dangerous hospitals have become even riskier for patients.
Leah Binder, Leapfrog’s CEO, says that “These are avoidable deaths.”
What does she mean by that?
She means that medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States according to Johns Hopkins researchers. As many as 250,000 people are killed each year and millions more are injured due to medical mistakes.
The preventable deaths that Binder mentions happen due to mistakes that should never take place. These mistakes include:
- Infections – in many cases, healthcare staff at a hospital do not follow proper infection control protocols. This includes regularly checking high-risk patients and areas (open wounds, recent surgical sites, IV sites, etc.).
- Diagnosing Errors – diagnostic errors negatively affect around12 million people a year and can lead to delayed treatment for a patient. In the worst cases, a patient will receive no treatment at all due to a misdiagnosis.
- Medication Mistakes – an incredible number of patients in hospitals experience mistakes with their medication, including not receiving their correct medication, receiving the wrong dosage, or not receiving their medications at all.
- Surgical Mistakes – surgical teams are supposed to follow strict protocols to prevent surgical mistakes. The last thing a patient should ever experience is a “never event:” wrong surgery, wrong patient, objects left inside someone, waking up during surgery, etc.
What We Can Do Now
We put an enormous amount of trust in the medical professionals we see. They are supposed to have the training and skills necessary to make us better. However, we know that mistakes are regularly made. If you have been harmed due to a medical error, the team at Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli, and Pratt is ready to help.
We are going to get to work on securing the compensation you deserve, including:
- Compensation for all medical expenses related to the error(s)
- Coverage of lost income and benefits if you cannot work
- Loss of enjoyment of life damages
- Pain and suffering damages
- Punitive damages against the healthcare provider/agency responsible
When you need a Hawaii medical malpractice attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation by calling at 808-736-5035.