It’s an old and tired joke (sort of) in the operating room suites, that you never want to overhear someone involved in operating on you say "uh-oh." In fact, some surgeons have been known to ask operating room staff to be excluded from their cases if they have heard them say this! Cases have actually been brought to the courts based on a patient hearing a medical practitioner say "uh-oh." What can be worse is NOT hearing this expression, and winding up the victim of a medical error, whether it was a missed event, or practicing error that could adversely affect your health and well-being, or that of a loved one. Without having the knowledge that perhaps the medical care you received was in error or caused harm, you may feel you have no path to any compensation for injury received due to medical error or omission. That’s where an experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney in Grand Rapids is needed.

Medical Malpractice happens – that is a fact – whether it is by a practitioner not following accepted, standard medical practice protocols, an omission of a medicine or treatment, or actual error in applying a medical treatment, such as the wrong dose of a medication. Serious consequences, even up to wrongful death, can occur in these malpractice occurrences. Medical malpractice cases over the years have included such errors as operating on the wrong kidney, limb, or totally wrong operation on a patient due to a mix-up of patients. You may remember the more recent case of the newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid getting the wrong dose of Heparin – a very powerful blood thinner. When a newborn receives 10,000 units of Heparin instead of 10 units of Heparin – serious hemorrhaging can occur. Interestingly, the Quaids sued the manufacturer, as the packaging of the two different strengths was so similar as to be confusing to the practitioner who actually administered the wrong dose.

Powerful anticoagulant medications such as Heparin and Coumadin have often been very instrumental in saving lives by preventing blood clots, treating such heart irregularities as atrial fibrillation, and being used judiciously for hip surgeries or mechanical heart valve surgery. There are many risk factors involved with their use, however, so education and close monitoring when on these medications is required. Patients need to be placed on bleeding and safety precautions, and taught to avoid cuts and serious falls which could cause head trauma and possible cerebral hemorrhaging.

Practitioners administering and prescribing these drugs have to ensure these educational needs are met and understood by patients, and the proper dosages are given for therapeutic levels. When dosages are erroneous or missed, causing deviation from therapeutic levels, dangerous sequelae can occur.