While the United States has some of the best hospitals and best doctors in the world, we all recognize that our system is far from perfect. Some patients experience bad outcomes. In some cases, these bad outcomes are preventable. In fact, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study published in 2016, medical errors are the third-most common cause of death in the United States, killing more than 250,000 people each year.
Common forms of medical malpractice include:
- Surgical errors
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
- Prescription drug errors
- Birth errors