Hospitals are deemed by many Pittsburgh residents to be a safe environment. There is good reason for this. On a regular basis, patients receive the care they need to recover from accidents and injuries. While this is the outcome in most situations, unfortunately in some cases hospital patients actually suffer injuries and illnesses due medical errors they are on the receiving end of while they are in the hospital.

These medical errors take many forms. One of the most common errors that can result in harm to a hospital patient is either not receiving a diagnosis of a condition or in the alternative, receiving a diagnosis that is incorrect. A misdiagnosis may lead to treatment being prescribed that is not actually necessary. Along the same lines as a failure to diagnose a condition, is missing warning signs that indicate a medical condition is taking turn for the worse. These often present themselves in a patient's vital signs.

Other injuries occur due to testing or infection. While most people feel comforted by the idea of tests or procedures being administered to rule issues out, the truth is in some cases tests cause more harm than good. Infections may be possible as a result of blood being drawn. The elements used in more complex tests, such as CT scans and MRIs, can result in kidney failure. Infections can be contracted in other ways not tied to blood tests as well. They become dangerous when hospital-acquired infections are resistant to antibiotics.

These are of course not the only ways in which a patient in a hospital may be injured during his or her stay. In our next post we will cover additional incidents that could result in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Source: Huffington Post, "10 Things That Can Kill You in the Hospital," Leana Wen, M.D., April 3, 2013