With the wide range of hospitals and care facilities in the nation, it can be hard to believe that the United States is nevertheless a place where pregnancy related injuries persist. On top of the endless questions and concerns new mothers can have regarding their new additions, they should not have to add the extra worry that a professional may not be carrying out their duties properly. Fortunately, new and expecting mothers in North Carolina have protection under state law to receive only the utmost quality care from medical experts.
Many have speculated on the unsettling statistics of such injuries, including Medscape, a resource for medical information for physicians and patients alike. According to an article on obstetrician and gynecologist malpractice that pulled from a 2015 report, OB/GYN doctors are most likely to face lawsuits among all physicians. Male physicians in this field were sued more than female physicians, and the most common complaint from patients involved the suffering from an abnormal injury. Some common causes of problems included:
- Failure to follow safety procedures
- Failure to treat
- Failure to diagnose
- Poor documentation of patient instruction
- Errors in medical administration
As a result, there were a large number of women who suffered from complictions such as bowel perforation, inefficient performance of caesarean sections and even maternal or fetal death. Although many OB/GYN professionals claimed that patients refused to follow their advice on various steps of pregnancy, the overwhelming number of injury cases seem to outweigh this explanation.
Fierce Healthcare, another resource for updated medical news, spent time focusing on this unsettling problem, finding that malpractice claims are on the rise. For recent cases settled for more than $10,000, the average payout amounted to $240,471. Fierce Healthcare goes on to report that obstretics indemnities were roughly $417,500 in 2017. Many of these claims were a result of the doctor’s failure to properly order medical testing. With these statisitics in mind, it is clear that malpractice claims have become an increasingly crucial issue in today’s society.