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Everyday on the news you hear about yet another lawsuit with multi-million dollar settlements. And these are just the big, newsworthy lawsuits. But in court houses around the country, thousands of new lawsuits are being filed each and every week by ordinary people looking for ordinary compensation for injuries and damages. Some of the more common lawsuits are for medical malpractice. But medical malpractice encompasses more than just suing a doctor for damages. Medical malpractice covers things like hospital, dental, and chiropractic malpractice.

Most people have heard some of the horror stories of medical malpractice. Like the one where a patient goes into the hospital for a leg amputation. But when they awaken from anesthesia, they find that the wrong leg has been amputated. Or the patient with the abdominal pain after routine surgey. An x-ray shows surgical instruments left inside the patient. Of course, these are the extremes, and these people have every right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit and receive fair compensation for the pain and suffering they went through.

Hospital malpractice is when a patient is harmed in the hospital and seeks compensation from the hospital. This can be a case where a patient is given the wrong medication. It may be difficult to pinpoint exactly who is to blame: did the pharmacy put the wrong medication in the cup? Did the nurse administer the wrong medication to the wrong patient? Or did the doctor simply prescribe the wrong medication? In this case, a lawyer will more than likely file a hospital malpractice lawsuit.

Dental malpractice is when a dental procedure goes wrong. For example, you go to the dentist to have a filing and he extracts a tooth. Or he drills the wrong tooth and fills the one next to the decayed tooth. In these cases, you have been a victim of dental malpractice.

Chiropractic malpractice is similar to the above examples except, in this case, you have been harmed by a chiropractor. Perhaps you were treated by a chiropractor for lower back pain and he inadvertently causes neck pain. Or, a chiropractor may tell you that his adjustments to your spine will reverse hair loss. You may be able to file a chiropractic malpractice lawsuit in cases like these.

So, as you can see in the above examples, medical malpractice covers more than just a doctor making a mistake. It can cover dentists, chiropractors, and even entire hospitals. If you have been injured by a medical professional, your first step would be to contact a lawyer who specializes in malpractice lawsuits. They will be better able to inform you whether or not you have any legal rights under the law to recoup damages.