Medical professionals are generally held to a higher standard of care than other individuals. When treating you, a physician is expected to use a high degree of care that a person with his or her training and experience would employ, as is generally accepted by other doctors with similar training and experience. Unfortunately, doctors too often fail to meet that standard, causing injuries due to:

• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose — A doctor may neglect to have a medical test administered, or may misread test results or symptoms.
• Surgical error —A surgeon may operate on the wrong body part, perform the wrong surgery, carelessly damage other body parts in the course of a routine surgery, or leave surgical tools or implements in a body cavity.
• Medication mistakes —Medical professions can prescribe, order or administer incorrect dosages, incorrect medications or give pharmaceuticals at the wrong time. It’s also not uncommon for a doctor or nurse to fail to ask about medications to which you might be allergic.
• Anesthesia errors — An anesthesiologist may neglect to do a proper workup to determine what medications would be appropriate and in what dosages. As a consequence, you may suffer from too much or too little anesthesia.
• Birth injuries —Medical professionals may fail to properly monitor the mother or the fetus, may improperly use suction or forceps, or may engage in other activities that lead to deprivation of oxygen during the birth process