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Other
Medical Malpractice
 Medical
errors leading to injury occur in a variety of circumstances.
Each situation is unique and must be thoroughly evaluated.
Some of the more common areas are: post surgical infections,
nursing negligence, improper drug prescriptions, misdiagnosis,
radiology failures, and failure to refer to a specialist.
Misdiagnosis
Any
injury or condition can be misdiagnosed, however,
in order to present a valid claim the patient must
be able to establish the error caused an injury. Often
we see this with failure to diagnose cancer. A delay
in treating any cancer can greatly effect the likelihood
of recovery and long term survival. Some cancers are
more aggressive and faster growing, in those cases
a delay of only a few months can have a significant
impact. The higher the stage of the cancer, the lower
the cure rate. Cancers of more advanced stages have
higher recurrence and mortality rates. In legal terms
this is often referred to an increased risk of harm.
In other cases their may be an error that does not
effect the prognosis. For example, if a doctor/radiologist
failed to recognize a fracture that may be a mistake.
But if it is properly diagnosed 2 weeks later, and
no additional harm was caused then there is no basis
for a claim.
Prescription
Errors
If
your doctor prescribes the wrong medicine your body
can have an intense adverse reaction. Sometime a doctor
will fail to consider what other medication a patient
is taking. If certain drugs are taken in combination
they can cause severe damage, and even death. Or the
medication may be contraindicated, that is the drug
will have the opposite affect from that desired, and
make the condition worse.
Nursing
Negligence
Nurses
play a vital role in the patients health care, particularly
in hospitals. The nurse is often responsible for carrying
out the doctor’s orders and marking the chart.
If nurse fail to follow the doctors instructions this
can obviously harm the patient. In addition, if the
nurse does not make appropriate notes on the chart
this can also be a basis for malpractice.
Post
Surgical Infections
It
is not necessarily negligent to contract an infection
during surgery. However, medical negligence occurs
when the doctor fails to make a timely diagnosis of
an infectious process and intervene before severe
damage is done. Chest and abdominal infections are
particularly worrisome. They require careful monitoring
of the signs and symptoms of infection such as temperature,
white blood cell count, presence of pus, and other
factors. If these signs and symptoms are present and
are not aggressively worked up, the infection can
spread and can lead to a permanent disability and
even death.
Our
firm handles a variety medical malpractice claims,
which cannot all be discussed in this web site. If
you would like more information or to discuss your
potential claim, call us at 1-800-7-LEGAL-7, or click
here for a Free Case Evaluation.
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