If you suffered injuries from a medical device, then you may have rights to a lawsuit if an error caused your injuries. However, proving a medical device error is the real challenge. Feel free to ask a Kansas City medical malpractice lawyer about your options if this happened to you.
Top Medical Device Error Causes
There are approximately 5,000 medical devices used every year by thousands of medical professionals. When someone is injured by a medical device, it’s usually because of one of two reasons: operator error or manufacturer issues. Let’s take a closer look.
Operator error
Hospital and clinic personnel see dozens of patients every day, each with particular needs, and on an extremely tight schedule. While these professionals have the best intentions and follow key protocols, they might not take the time to ensure all equipment is in working order before using it, which causes complications down the line. Oversight might include:
- Failure to follow up on minor malfunctions
- Lack of maintenance and care for the device
- Not fixing issues that come up
- Failing to follow proper instructions for safe use
Manufacturing issues
Many medical device issues might be due to defective parts. These can be attributed to the medical device manufacturer. Other production problems include:
- Poor technology designs
- Faulty designs or design flaws
- Manufacturing errors
- Marketing errors
- Little to no standardization for production
- Using cheap materials
- Not following safety standards
How to Sue for a Medical Device Error
So if you were injured by the device, which party might be liable: the healthcare worker or the manufacturer? It depends on the circumstances of your injury. In some cases, the cause is obvious, and in others, quite challenging to determine.
A medical device error caused by human error means the healthcare professional failed to follow the standards of care. Common actions involved with this include:
- Not following instructions for proper device use
- Failing to repair malfunctioning devices
- Using the device improperly
- Operating a device with little to no training or supervision
You can sue a medical worker who admits fault or clearly used the device incorrectly. However, proving this can be difficult if the medical professional denies responsibility or attempts to hide what happened.
Suing the device manufacturer with a product liability claim comes into play when an error is found in the device. This might be a known defect with design, in manufacturing, or failure to warn consumers in marketing or packaging materials. Your case requires ample evidence of one of these defects to bring a case.