When we visit a hospital in Florida or anywhere else we trust that we will leave the hospital in better condition than when we arrived. However, this is not always the case.

Serious medical errors are made all too often in Florida and the rest of the country. Medical malpractice can result in permanent side effects to the patient, and even death. Some of the most common medical errors involve botched surgeries or the failure to diagnose illnesses.

Recently, the family of a 7-year-old boy sued his pediatrician alleging that she failed to diagnose his bacterial meningitis, which resulted in the boy losing his losing his vision. In the heartbreaking story, the boy's mother said that the youngster was incorrectly diagnosed with an ear infection.

Instead, what the boy had was bacterial meningitis, which is a deadly bacterial infection that causes the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord to inflame. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is critical that meningitis be diagnosed and treated early.

The boy's lawyer said the doctor ignored the fact that the boy had a severe headache, and because of the delay in treatment, the meningitis worsened, left the boy in a coma and claimed his eyesight as well as other impairments.

According to the lawsuit, when the boy's family tried to take him back for a re-evaluation, they were told by a receptionist that there was "nothing they could do" because he was "just there."

The next day the boy was found unconscious and was rushed to the emergency room where it was determined that he had meningitis. According to the lawsuit, the boy spent weeks in a coma and now suffers from impaired speech, impaired hearing, seizures and brain damage as a result of the illness.

Source: Hartford Courant, "Lawsuit Charges That Tolland Boy Lost His Eyesight After Doctor Failed To Diagnose Meningitis," Denise Buffa, Jan. 17, 2012