When something goes wrong during medical care, it is not always easy to know whether it was a genuine mistake or simply an unavoidable risk. Understanding the most common types of medical malpractice cases can help you recognize whether your experience may involve actual negligence and whether it is worth having your situation reviewed by a qualified legal team.
Medicine comes with real risks, and not every bad outcome reflects a provider’s failure. However, certain types of errors follow recognizable patterns. After years of working with clients harmed by medical negligence, we know what these cases tend to look like and what it takes to pursue them successfully.
Here is a look at the most common categories of medical malpractice cases we see in Lansing and across Michigan.
Surgical errors are among the most serious and most visible forms of medical negligence. These are mistakes that occur in the operating room and can have immediate, life-altering consequences. Common examples include operating on the wrong body part, performing the wrong procedure, leaving surgical instruments or sponges inside a patient’s body, and causing preventable damage to surrounding organs or tissue.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, so-called “never events” like wrong-site surgery are considered so clearly preventable that they should never occur in a properly managed healthcare setting. When they do, they often form the basis of a strong medical malpractice claim.
Failure to diagnose or a delayed diagnosis is one of the most common and most harmful types of medical malpractice. When a provider misses or delays identifying a serious condition like cancer, heart disease, stroke, or infection, the consequences can be severe. Time is often the most critical factor in treating these conditions, and a delayed diagnosis can mean the difference between a full recovery and a much worse outcome.
According to the Michigan Legislature under MCL 600.2912, healthcare providers are held to the standard of care expected of a reasonably competent professional in their field. Failing to order appropriate tests, dismissing symptoms without adequate evaluation, or misreading diagnostic imaging can all represent a breach of that standard.
Birth injuries are among the most emotionally devastating types of medical malpractice cases. These injuries occur when negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery causes preventable harm to a mother or child. Common examples include failure to monitor fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments, delayed decisions to perform a necessary cesarean section, and errors in managing high-risk pregnancies.
According to the Joint Commission, adverse events during labor and delivery are among the most frequently reported serious safety events in hospitals. Many of these events are preventable when providers follow established protocols and respond appropriately to warning signs.
Medication errors can happen at any stage of the prescribing and dispensing process. A provider may prescribe the wrong drug, the wrong dosage, or fail to account for a patient’s known allergies or dangerous drug interactions. Pharmacists and nursing staff can also contribute to medication errors through incorrect dispensing or administration.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, medication errors affect millions of patients across the country every year and are a leading cause of preventable harm in healthcare settings. When a medication error causes serious injury, an experienced Lansing medical malpractice attorney can help you determine who is responsible and what your options are.
Anesthesia mistakes are less common than some other types of errors, but the consequences can be catastrophic. Administering too much or too little anesthesia, failing to review a patient’s medical history for contraindications, or inadequately monitoring a patient during a procedure can all result in serious injury or death.
According to the Michigan Legislature under MCL 600.2912, anesthesiologists and certified nurse anesthetists are held to the same standard of reasonable professional competence as other healthcare providers. When that standard is not met and a patient is harmed, the provider can be held legally responsible.
You do not have to figure out on your own whether what happened to you rises to the level of medical malpractice. That is what we are here for. At Monument Legal, we review these cases every day and we know what to look for.
The most common types include surgical errors, diagnostic failures, birth injuries, medication errors, and anesthesia mistakes. According to the Michigan Legislature under MCL 600.2912, any licensed healthcare provider who fails to meet the accepted standard of care and causes patient harm can be held legally responsible, regardless of their specialty.
A surgical error is a preventable mistake that occurs before, during, or after a procedure and causes patient harm. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, certain errors such as wrong-site surgery are classified as never events, meaning they are so clearly preventable that their occurrence signals a serious breakdown in the standard of care.
Yes, a missed or delayed diagnosis can absolutely support a medical malpractice claim. According to the Michigan Courts, a provider who fails to diagnose a condition that a reasonably competent provider would have identified may have breached the standard of care, particularly when that failure causes the patient’s condition to worsen.
Birth injury cases follow the same general legal framework as other medical malpractice claims in Michigan. According to the Michigan Legislature under MCL 600.5805, special statute of limitations rules may apply when the injured party is a minor, which is an important reason to consult with a qualified attorney as early as possible.