When you hear the term “medical malpractice,” you may think of a doctor’s big mistake, an act like leaving a sponge inside of a patient during surgery or giving a fatal dose of a dangerous medication. While these are good examples of malpractice, serious harm can also result from oversights while caring for a patient — like failing to discover drug allergies in a medical history, missing a key symptom while looking for a diagnosis, or failing to order a C-section during labor and delivery.
Did Your Doctor Make a Mistake?
Proving a respected physician made an error that caused significant harm requires effective legal guidance and intelligent planning. Medical malpractice lawyers will tell you that there is no such thing as a straightforward case, where malpractice is obvious and easy to prove. These cases are always challenging and require careful strategy, precise investigating, and compelling testimony from medical experts.
Scenarios involving malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis of a disease leading to worsening condition
- Failure to diagnose cancer resulting in metastasis
- Giving the wrong medication
- Administering too much of a medication
- Physical injury to a newborn during delivery
- Performing unnecessary surgery
- Performing surgery on the wrong body part
- Failing to properly sterilize before surgery, resulting in infection
- Psychiatric malpractice leading to suicide
- Anesthesia errors
- Serious dental mistakes
- Cosmetic surgery mistakes resulting in deformity
- Seeking Damages From Defendants
In cases where failed or dysfunctional medical equipment is found to be responsible for causing serious injury, an attorney may pursue the manufacturer and/or the hospital in pursuit of significant compensation. Facility administrations may also be held liable for hiring medical personnel with inexperience, inadequate credentials, or questionable professional histories.
With strong legal guidance, a victim of medical malpractice can recover several types of economic and noneconomic damages from the negligent physician or facility, including compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, lost income, estimated future medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, permanent disability or disfigurement, and loss of consortium (marital relations).