For most people their health is their most precious gift, so, when they fall ill it is only natural that they might feel scared or apprehensive. If surgery is required it can give the illness an even greater dimension of fear. However, if you are in the fortunate position to belong to a medical scheme, chances are you will be treated in a private hospital. We are very fortunate to have an excellent private health care system in South Africa, but even there you might sometimes be the victim of some sort of medical mistake. Misplacing drips are one of the most common errors that happen in a hospital.

In most instances it can cause pain, but little danger to the life of the patient. However, depending on what the drip contains, there might be a danger to the patients. The most commons errors in misplacing drips are that the needle is inserted in the wrong area, or not fully inserted into the vein. When this happens, the fluids go into the flesh and can cause hardness and pain. Another error is when the drip’s needle is placed into an aorta. Depending on the type of drugs in the drip, this can have a fatal impact on the patient.

At Adele van der Walt Attorneys we deal with many of medical negligence cases every year. If you believe you have been the victim of medical negligence, feel free to contact us. We will do an assessment of your case and if you have a strong enough case we will take the matter further.

Please remember that we need as much information as possible, so try to keep all reports, notes and more to substantiate your claim.

For more information on this subject, please give us a call at 012 460 3668 (SA)
or e-mail us at linda@avdw.co.za