The United States is having an epidemic – tens of thousands of people are experiencing adverse reactions and deaths from preventable medical errors during their hospital stay. As Orlando medical malpractice lawyers we continue to see needless tragedies caused by doctor and hospital malpractice.

While you would like to think that Orlando hospitals have well-trained doctors and medical personnel and the most advanced technology – preventable mistakes continue to devastate innocent individuals and families. Nationwide, more people die from hospital errors than AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle accidents. These mistakes happen during hospital admission, during the hospital stay, and during and after hospital discharge.

According to Archives of Internal Medicine, patient errors are first recorded upon admission to the hospital. Medications taken and allergy history is frequently omitted from charts which result in drug therapy problems ranging from discomfort to deterioration of the patient’s condition. In one study conducted at two prestigious teaching hospitals, results showed that about two out of every 100 admissions experienced a preventable adverse drug event.

Not only do patients suffer from drug interactions but they also suffer from surgeries gone wrong. These tragedies include surgeons operating on the wrong side of the patient’s brain, doctors amputating the wrong leg and patients going in to have a gall bladder removed and actually having their kidney removed instead. One poor man expected to have his cancerous testicle removed; instead his healthy one was removed. Sadly, a significant number of many patients later discover foreign objects left inside their abdomen.

Of course, when medical malpractice happens the doctors, hospitals and nurses involved usually keep silent. Few healthcare providers admit making mistakes. Even fewer doctors or hospitals ever voluntarily take responsibility for the harm they cause. That is usually when we are asked to assist the patient and the patient’s family.