Medical Malpractice Attorney Raleigh NC

There are many reasons why medical malpractice lawsuits are filed in North Carolina. One of the most common reasons is preventable medical errors. The incidents of preventable medical errors in this country are almost at epidemic proportions. According to national statistics, the number of people who die each week because of preventable medical errors in this country could fill four jumbo jets.

Surgical Errors

When a patient goes to a doctor with a health condition, they are putting their trust in that doctor. This is especially true when it comes to the patient’s trust in their surgeon. Surgery – even minor surgery – can end up being a life or death situation and, tragically, far too many of these surgeries end up in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Urological surgeries have become one of the most common surgeries that are performed each year in this country. The most frequent reasons why patients are told they need to undergo surgery is for the removal of cancerous tumors, renal stones, or male fertility. Like many surgeries, there has been a shift over the past few years to move urologic surgeries from inpatient procedures to outpatient procedures in order to cut the costs of the procedures, however, studies have revealed that this practice is presenting a dangerous risk to patients.

In one major study, the research team examined data that was collected from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. They examined the records taken over the course of a dozen years of patients who had been discharged after having urologic surgery. There were almost eight million urologic surgeries performed during this time frame. Researchers looked at the overall mortality rate of the patients, as well as the Failure to Rescue (FTR) mortality rates.

FTR mortality rates were implemented after the ground-breaking publication of To Err is Human, which pointed out serious flaws in the medical community that allowed medical errors to occur at an alarming rate. An FTR is defined as the failure of medical professionals to identify a problem and take the necessary action to prevent a patient’s death. 

The result of this study found that, along with the increase in outpatient surgeries, there has also been an increase in the FTR mortality rates. Particularly at risk were patients who were elderly, members of a minority, those who suffered from some other medical condition, or those patients who had public and not private health insurance.