Wrong site surgery cases grab headlines all the time, but they are not the only medical malpractice cases patients face every year. Here are other types of medical malpractice that may not grab the headlines, but they still cause serious injuries to the affected parties.

Misdiagnosis

This is when your medical doctor doesn't diagnose the correct disease from which you are suffering. Note that misdiagnosis only rises to the level of malpractice if another medical doctor with the same training and experience would have made the correct diagnosis under the same circumstances. A good example of a misdiagnosis that can be considered medical malpractice is a case in which a doctor ends up misdiagnosing you because they were rushing to get over with the consultation and attend their child's school dance.

Premature Discharge

This applies when you are discharged from the hospital before you are ready. Of course, you don't have to be a hundred percent fit to be discharged, but you should recover to the point where continued hospitalization is not needed. Therefore, your premature discharge may be considered medical malpractice if other doctors agree that your condition, at the time of the discharge, still required you to be hospitalized.

Unnecessary Surgery

Unnecessary surgery is when a surgeon undertakes surgery that will not help improve your situation in your case. This may be the case for a doctor motivated by money or for a doctor who is extremely cautious to the point where it is considered medical negligence. A good example is a case where a doctor performs surgery to remove a nonmalignant tumor that could easily have been dealt with via other ways, say, with medication to shrink it.

Disregard for Medical History

Your medical history is important because it details the drugs you are allergic to, the injuries you have sustained in the past, and your inherited diseases, among other things. This means a doctor that doesn't consider your medical history can easily end up harming you instead of helping you, and such a doctor will be guilty of medical malpractice.

Poor Aftercare

Lastly, a doctor or hospital may also commit medical malpractice if they don't offer you proper medical aftercare after the initial treatment or hospitalization. As explained above, most people don't heal completely by the time they are discharged.  Follow-up or aftercare is needed to make sure you heal as well as you can even after your discharge. Therefore, you have a medical malpractice case on your hands if medical doctors agree that the aftercare you received was substandard.

Contact a lawyer like Gary L Baker Attorney at Law for more information.