Medical MalPractice Statistics

Confusion over similar drug names accounts for nearly 25% of all reports sent to the Medication Error Reporting Program, a program jointly operated by the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP).
SOURCE: Institute of Medicine

It is estimated that between 44,000 to 98,000 patients die in hospitals each year due to medical errors.
SOURCE: Institute of Medicine

Medication errors harm 1.5 million people and cost billions of dollars annually
SOURCE: Institute of Medicine

A 2007 study of the prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in U.S. Healthcare Facilities found that rates of MRSA infection are between 8 and 11 times greater than previously estimated.
SOURCE: Association for Professionals in Infection and Epidemiology (APIC)

Approximately 1 in 10 hospitalized patients will acquire an infection after admission.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), estimates that hospital-acquired infections cost $27.5 billion each year.
SOURCE: ConsumersUnion.org

In 2007, consumers submitted about 174,000 adverse event reports to the FDA compared to 53,000 completed by physicians.
SOURCE: ConsumersUnion.org

Facts on the Quality of Health Care (PDF)
SOURCE: National Coalition on Health Care

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is an act or omission by a health care provider that deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community and results in injury, damage or loss to a patient. It includes professional negligence by a physician, hospital or other provider of health in which improper or negligent treatment jeopardizes the health care or causes serious injury or loss to a patient and his/her family.

Attorneys at Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff have extensive experience litigating cases on behalf of individuals injured by the professional negligence of health care providers.

The types of medical malpractice cases we handle include:

• Birth injuries
• Brain damage, brain injuries, head injuries
• Medication errors
• Surgical errors
• Failure to diagnose pulmonary emboli
• Radiation injuries and burns
• Negligent intubation
• Erroneous report of HIV positive
• Anesthesia errors
• Hospital-acquired infections
• Transfusion errors
• Unnecessary surgery
• HMO medical malpractice

Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice

The attorneys of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff have successfully represented hundreds of Kaiser Permanente HMO patients who have been the victims of Kaiser medical malpractice. Many people covered by Kaiser aren’t aware of the restrictive measures incorporated into Kaiser’s group health insurance policy — measures that make it extremely difficult for members or their families to sue for medical malpractice.

Over the years, KCR attorneys have helped numerous Kaiser members and their families protect their rights and resolve cases in which they received improper or negligent care.

READ MORE

Proven Results

• KCR recovered $1.1 million in a chiropractic malpractice case in which a patient's chiropractor failed to diagnose Cauda Equina Syndrome. The failure to diagnose resulted in the patient's permanent paralysis. The compensation will pay for the patient’s long term medical treatment and attendant care needs for the rest of his life.
  
  
• In a confidential settlement, KCR achieved an $850,000 recovery on behalf of woman and her family in a medical malpractice case arising from the failure of the woman’s doctors to diagnose her breast cancer. The settlement also addresses a future wrongful death claim for the terminally ill woman’s husband and 3 grown children.
  
  
• KCR achieved a six-figure arbitration award in a Kaiser medical malpractice dispute. The plaintiff was admitted to Kaiser Foundation Hospital to deliver a baby. Within days after undergoing a C-section surgery, she developed several severe infections.
  
  Treatment for the infections required hospitalization and prolonged treatment at home involving painful wound cleansing and care. The arbitrator determined that Kaiser’s failure to provide adequate antibiotics for plaintiff’s infections was the proximate cause of her pain and suffering.
  
  
• KCR recovered 1.25 million in a medical malpractice case against a hospital on behalf of a woman who suffered a heart attack and resulting brain injury while she was waiting to be seen in the emergency waiting room of the hospital.
  
  

If you or a loved one has suffered serious injury, harm or loss in a medical situation, please fill out and submit the contact form on this page for a free case evaluation or call us toll-free at (888) 285-3333.