Medical misdiagnosis often results in the worsening of the underlying condition.

Depending on what that is, the patient could endure:

Surgical negligence occurs when a preventable complication or error happens within an operation. 

These complications and errors need to be considered beyond the known risks of that procedure - ie. end-stage kidney disease is a known risk of a liver transplant, however a punctured stomach isn't.

Common complications and errors include:

John had to have a procedure to fix some compression fractures in his spine. In this procedure, known as vertebroplasty, bone cement is injected into the affected area of spine to fill and support the fracture.

But in John’s vertebroplasty, cement was injected into more than just his fractures. The cement had also been injected into his facet joints. It then leaked into some veins and blocked a nerve.

In this instance, the doctor breached their duty of care by performing the procedure on the incorrect body part.

The same physical complications as normal surgical negligence can be experienced, however due to the nature of the procedure, patients often also experience:

Johanna had always been self-conscious of her body. Flipping through magazines. Yearning to look like the women in them. 

For years she put aside money to get procedures done. 

At first it was lip injections. Then some botox. Then laser resurfacing.

In this instance, the doctor breached their duty of care by demonstrating improper surgical technique and insufficient post care.

Prescription and medication errors happen when a professional has recommended:

Jacob had suffered with mental illness for years, skipping from professional to professional, being handed around as a case that was ‘just too-hard’.  

Finally, he found a psychiatrist who understood him, and proclaimed to have experience in this area of mental illness.

His new psychiatrist prescribed him a mixture of medication ‘sure to solve his troubles’.

Thorazine. Trifalon. Stelazine.

The doctor knew how complex Jacob’s issues were, so prescribed him multiple doses daily of all three medications.

This toxic, high potency concoction caused Jacob’s blood to seriously thin, as well as his schizophrenia to be amplified.

In this instance, the doctor breached their duty of care by prescribing a dangerous dosage and mixture of medications.

In pregnancy and birthing injuries, there is commonly more than just one stakeholder - that is to say, more people effected than just the patient themselves.

These other stakeholders are the baby/ies as well as the family or friends of the patient.

Jennifer was so excited. She had finally reached the day, the day her little baby boy would be born. After 8 rounds of IVF and as her first child, she was beyond ecstatic.

Her C-section was scheduled, alleviating any stress she had about the natural birth process. The nurses would be ready. The doctor would be prepared. She knew when she came out of the room her life would be changed forever.

But what she didn’t expect, was that her life would be changed for the worse.

A few months after having her son, she experienced sharp pains in her lower abdomen.

Upon getting a second opinion and having tests done, it was found that her internal stitches from the C-section were pulled too tightly. So tightly that the blood flow had ceased in parts.

It caused a section of her uterus to ‘die’. 

When the news broke, she was told that she would be unlikely to ever carry a child again due to the impact it had on her uterus, naturally taking a huge toll on hers and her husband’s lives - both physically but also mentally. After 8 rounds of IV, she was tormented by the thought that this could be her only child.

In this instance, the doctor/treating medical practitioner breached their duty of care by failing to perform the delivery without due skill and care, as well as inattentiveness throughout the procedure. 

And to be able to agree to it, they have to be made aware of all of the risks involved. 

When a practitioner fulfills this duty and the patient agrees, it's known as 'informed consent'. 

But, when the practitioner has failed their duty and doesn't tell the patient about the risks, it's known as 'failure to warn'. 

Failure to warn is a breach of duty of care, and includes situations where a medical practitioner:

Michelle was going through diagnosis for a stem cell disorder.

Being that stem cells are found in the bone, to have an accurate diagnosis Michelle was going to need a bone marrow biopsy.

Knowing that this was a fairly invasive procedure - a thick metal needle puncturing her back and pelvis - she was apprehensive.

She asked her doctor if it would be necessary, to which he said he couldn't force her. 

What he failed to say, though, was that if she didn't get it done then her diagnosis would be inconclusive. And with an inconclusive outcome, her condition could worsen over time if left undetected. 

Concerned about the procedure and feeling fine, Michelle decided not to go ahead with the biopsy. Confirming with her doctor that this was fine, she was ecstatic to skip the procedure.

Ecstatic until her kidney failed two years later. 

With the stem cell disorder present yet going undetected, Michelle's condition had worsened, attacking her kidney along the way.

Saying had she had known there was a high likelihood the negative diagnosis was unreliable without it, she would've definitely had the procedure done, inevitable saving her from her kidney failure.

In this instance, the doctor breached their duty of care by failing to warn of the risks should Michelle have not gone through with the procedure. 

Oscar had been suffering with his vision for a year or two. 

Every now and again his eye, just one, would dilate without reason. His pupil would grow, making it painful to see, slightly fuzzy, and way too bright. 

He ended up seeing an optometrist, and then an ophthalmologist. 

Worried about his vision, he was eager to get results and solve the problem before it got worse. He waited for days, and then weeks. And then a month passed.

And then two.

And then his vision deteriorated dramatically. 

Oscar had been at a concert with friends when his vision suddenly went. He was rushed to emergency where the doctors had to chase medical records to work out what was wrong with him. 

In their search, they found test results that had conclusive data on them.

Oscar had a bacterial infection in his right eye that was easily treatable with eye drops and antibiotics, but left untreated was lethal to his vision. 

His ophthalmologist had been sitting on the results for 6 weeks but failed to report on them, noting it as 'just a bacterial infection' but not noting the extremities of not having it treated.

In this instance, the ophthalmologist breached their duty of care by failing to report on Oscar's test results in a timely manner.

Kelly was a newly registered nurse at the city’s hospital, working her fourth nightshift in a row.

Part of this nightshift included checking a handful of patient’s vital signs every 2 hours.

On her fourth round for the night, she ticked off her patients one by one. Until she reached patient Bourkes.

Feeling tired and on her last round before her weekend, Kelly was dreaming of her beach trip away. She spoke about it quickly with Bourkes whilst checking his vitals.

Temperature. Blood pressure. Heart rate. Respiratory rate.

She reported it all as normal, but she noticed there were a couple of vitals missing from her previous rounds. She must have forgotten to report Bourkes’ vitals.

Instead of contacting a superior to alert someone to her mistake, Kelly scribbled in some normal numbers for Bourkes’ vitals and left it at that.

Hours later, Bourke experienced a serious heart attack, something that would’ve been picked up in vitals if she had performed these properly, and reported on them honestly.

In this instance, the nurse, Kelly, breached her duty of care by failing to properly monitor vitals and report on documentation honestly.

After years of suffering with a severe under-bite, Harry was incredibly happy that the day had finally come for it to be fixed.

Orthognathic surgery was going to be his key to happiness, and Dr Lieu was going to give him that key.

Orthognathic surgery, also known as corrective jaw surgery, is generally where parts of jaw bone are removed and pieces are screwed back together to form a new jaw shape.

Harry couldn’t wait.

But after a few months had passed and the swelling and side effects had died down, he was shocked to discover his jaw was not at all what he had expected.

His jaw had been moved back, but too far back.

He now had a receding lower jaw, which he hated even more than his under-bite. Dr Lieu had taken too big of a chunk of Harry’s jaw. 

He had to have serious corrective surgery by another doctor to fix the mistakes.

In this instance, the orthodontist, Dr Lieu, breached his duty of care by failing to perform the surgery with reasonable care and skill.