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Study claims medical malpractice is third-leading cause of death

Most people are aware of the fact that they face some risks from medical malpractice. These risks exist at everything from a common doctor’s appointment to open heart surgery. Any time that medical professionals are working with you, you have to be conscious of the fact that malpractice may occur.

However, even with this mindset, many people underestimate just how serious of an issue this is. But recent reports have gone as far as claiming that medical malpractice has become the third-leading cause of death in the United States. That certainly makes it seem like it is a much bigger issue than people realized, and perhaps needs even more consideration than it was previously given.

What is more dangerous?

If medical malpractice ranks third, you may naturally be wondering what ranks first and second. At the top of the list is heart disease, as it can cause heart attacks and other types of pulmonary ailments. Second on the list is cancer, in part because cancer is just an umbrella term for all of the different types of cancer, from skin cancer to mesothelioma. But even as common as things like car accident deaths are, they don’t rank higher than medical malpractice in third.

How does medical malpractice happen?

Malpractice happens in a variety of ways. In some cases, it could be because a doctor makes a physical error, such as severing an important artery during surgery. In other cases, it could be because a doctor diagnoses a disease as something minor when they really should have diagnosed it as something serious, and this means that the proper treatment for the patient is significantly delayed. In still other cases, people are just given medications that they are allergic to or a mix of medications that aren’t supposed to be taken together. These are just a few examples out of many.

If you have been harmed, or if you’ve lost a loved one, then it’s very important for you to understand all of the legal options that you have. As common as medical malpractice is, you deserve world-class treatment, and you need to know what steps to take if you do not receive it.