If you are sick, in pain, or otherwise have discomfort, then you’ll probably choose to visit the nearest emergency room or schedule an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible. When being treated by a medical professional, we have the reasonable expectation that we will feel some relief afterwards, and that our diagnosis and treatment plan will be appropriate.
But all too often, medical professionals commit mistakes that can result in patient harm or death. In situations like these, as a medical malpractice lawyer patients trust from Disparti Law Group can attest, victims may be owed restitution for the ways they have suffered. If the patient passed away because of malpractice, then the surviving family can come forward with a lawsuit instead.
Medical negligence is defined as doing something that another prudent doctor in a similar medical setting would or would not have committed. For medical malpractice, negligence can be assessed by examining whether the doctor had provided reasonable care to the patient, and if another doctor would have done (or not done) the same thing. Mistakes, errors, and oversights committed by medical professionals can have dire consequences on the patient’s health, and some may lose their lives because of it. Examples of medical malpractice include but are not limited to:
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
- Ignoring, misreading, or failing to obtain laboratory tests/results
- Recommending unnecessary surgery or other procedures
- Surgical mistakes or performing surgery on the wrong area
- Improper medication type and/or dosage
- Failure to consider possible medication or drug interactions
- Poor aftercare or follow-up
- Failure to recognize symptoms
- Premature discharge
- Failure to consider the patient’s medical history
The information provided here may shock you, or you may be left more confident that medical malpractice has happened to you or a loved one. There are hundreds of deaths that occur per day across the nation that are actually preventable and could be due to a doctor’s grave error. Those who think they may have been injured due to a medical provider must take action now to hold the offending physician and/or facility liable. Victims of medical malpractice may be owed financial restitution for how their lives and health have changed for the worse due to a doctor’s mistake.
Devastatingly, as a Disparti Law Group team member knows, statistics show that medical mistakes and negligence happen more frequently than people realize. This can leave us wondering if we can actually feel safe in a hospital, or if our life could be at-risk. But isn’t the doctor’s office where we are supposed to go when we don’t feel well? Who are we supposed to rely on if they cannot help us? This realization in itself can be overwhelming. What we can do is educate ourselves and become more aware of how and when medical malpractice or negligence can occur, so that we feel empowered to take action for ourselves or a loved one if needed.