When you walk into a hospital, ER, or doctor’s office, you are there to be listened to, evaluated, and treated safely and competently by a medical professional. That said, when a provider skimps on an exam, misses symptoms, misreads results, or simply doesn’t follow accepted standards of medical practice, the results can be catastrophic. In those situations, the harm was not merely an unavoidable accident. These are preventable medical errors that give you legal rights.  

Preventable errors happen far more often in West Virginia than many patients realize. Chronic staffing shortages, overcrowded ERs, and limited specialist availability all increase the likelihood of medical mistakes. If you or a loved one were harmed after seeking medical care, learning more about the nature of preventable medical errors and why they happen can help you make sense of your experience and determine your options for recovery.

What Is a “Preventable” Medical Error? 

A preventable medical error is any mistake that could have been avoided if the healthcare provider in question had followed the appropriate standard of care. A preventable error is different from a complication that occurs despite appropriate treatment. These errors occur when a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional fails to take the necessary steps, perform the necessary tests, communicate important information to a patient, or recognize the signs of a serious medical condition.

Preventable medical errors can occur in many ways. A doctor might misdiagnose a condition, delay ordering an essential test, ignore abnormal lab results, prescribe the wrong medication, or discharge a patient prematurely. Nurses, physicians, and lab technicians may not properly communicate important information to one another. In many cases, the medical provider in question was not acting out of ignorance. They were acting out of haste, carelessness, or a simple lack of time and resources.

Why Are Medical Errors More Common in West Virginia?

Preventable medical errors occur in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., but there are specific issues at play in West Virginia that can increase a patient’s risk. Many West Virginia hospitals, especially those in more rural counties, have staffing shortages that leave nurses and physicians stretched thin. When medical staff are unable to take adequate time with each patient, they are more likely to rush through evaluations, skip necessary steps, and/or miss changes in a patient’s condition.

Many ERs around the state are also overcrowded much of the time, especially when there is a spike in illness or during the winter. In a hectic emergency room environment, triage mistakes and treatment delays are far more likely. Patients with subtle symptoms that indicate a stroke, heart attack, infection, or internal bleeding may be overlooked or forced to wait too long.

Limited specialist access can also be a problem in certain parts of the state. When a hospital has no onsite neurologist, cardiologist, radiologist, or other specialist available, a diagnosis may be delayed, rushed, or made without the benefit of adequate expertise. Also, communication failures among healthcare providers continue to be a problem, and many preventable errors begin with a simple missed note, a misread chart, or a lab result that is not reviewed in time.

The Most Common Preventable Medical Errors 

Medical errors take many forms, but misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are the most common. A doctor may write off symptoms as nothing serious, fail to consider a patient’s risk factors, or rely on their assumptions rather than ordering the tests necessary to rule out serious conditions. In West Virginia, hospitals and other facilities see misdiagnosed strokes, heart attacks, infections, sepsis, pulmonary embolisms, meningitis, and many forms of cancer on a regular basis. The resulting injuries are often life-threatening, and many could have been avoided with a more thorough evaluation.

Medication errors are another problem. A patient may be given the wrong drug, an incorrect dosage, or a medication that negatively interacts with a drug they are already taking. These errors are most common in busy hospital settings, where charts may be incomplete, communication between providers is rushed, or pharmacists are otherwise overtaxed. 

Emergency room negligence also plays a role. In a chaotic ER environment, staff members may miss abnormal vital signs, fail to review imaging or lab results, or discharge a patient without appropriate treatment or follow-up care. Many serious injuries and medical errors occur because no one was willing or able to take the time to listen and/or investigate.

Surgical errors, though less common, also remain some of the most serious. These incidents include errors with anesthesia, preventable surgical complications, and/or inadequate postoperative monitoring. Patients can suffer serious harm after surgery when abnormal symptoms or results are ignored during the recovery process.

Finally, there are cases of failure to follow up. A provider may fail to call a patient about abnormal test results, forget to schedule follow-up imaging, or simply assume someone else on staff will ensure that the patient receives needed treatment or intervention. When nobody follows up on abnormal findings, the patient often loses the window of opportunity to receive treatment or to intervene before their condition worsens.

Warning Signs That a Medical Error May Have Occurred

A doctor or nurse who takes only a few minutes with you, won’t take your concerns seriously, or attributes everything to stress, anxiety, or overwork without ordering tests, may also be missing something. You should also be alert if you had to return to the ER a short time after being discharged, or if another provider was surprised at how your case was handled after the fact. All of these are possible indicators of a preventable medical error.

Proving Medical Malpractice in West Virginia 

In order to successfully prove medical malpractice, a patient must show that a medical provider failed to meet the standard of care that was owed, that the failure caused them harm, and that the harm caused real damages to be compensated. In West Virginia, there are specific deadlines for filing a claim. The state also requires certain expert opinions and documentation before a lawsuit can even be filed. Patients or families affected by a preventable medical error can find it difficult to navigate the legal requirements on their own. A skilled West Virginia medical malpractice attorney can help make sure that deadlines are met and that the case is well supported.

You Deserve Answers and Accountability 

Preventable medical errors are not an unavoidable fact of life. They are the result of failures—failures to listen, failures to test, failures to communicate, and failures to adhere to established medical standards. When the standard of care falls short, the consequences for patients and families can be life-changing. You deserve to know what happened, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.

If you believe a preventable medical error harmed you or someone you love, help is available. Our West Virginia medical malpractice attorney can provide that help. Contact our office right away to discuss.