Personal Injury Lawyer

A healthy relationship of trust should exist between a doctor and his or her patients. When this trust is broken and the doctor or other medical staff is negligent, the patient can suffer serious consequences. Knowing the common types of medical malpractice and recognizing situations that may put you or your family members in danger can help you receive the best medical care and protect your life.

Failure To Diagnose

When you go to your doctor with a problem, you expect him or her to look into all the possible conditions that could be causing your symptoms. When a doctor does not take your symptoms seriously and does not order necessary tests to fully diagnose your condition, you may have a case for medical malpractice. If the doctor failed to perform at the standard of care, your condition could have worsened and more extensive treatment may now be needed. Misdiagnosis can also fall under medical malpractice, as the doctor may have recommended treatment for a condition that you did not have that caused more harm than good.

Inadequate Treatment

Even if a proper diagnosis is made, a doctor can fail to see treatment followed through. After an initial diagnosis is made, your doctor should prescribe a well-defined plan for the recommended treatment. If the doctor diagnoses a condition yet fails to offer you the necessary treatment to manage the condition, he or she has been negligent towards your health. Without adequate treatment, your diagnosis can be useless to you.

Surgical Errors

Perhaps the scariest part of having surgery is the trust that you have to place in your doctor. While many doctors do an excellent job providing quality care for their patients, there are unfortunately others who haphazardly go into the operating room. Surgical errors can include the wrong surgery being performed (such as a knee replacement of the wrong knee), anesthesia errors, sterilization errors, or irreparable damage to body systems. Surgical errors can be the most devastating of all medical malpractice, as these mistakes are often life-threatening.

Seeing your doctor for your health matters and trusting his or her diagnosis should be a defining characteristic of every doctor-patient relationship. Unfortunately, though, doctors do make errors and fail their patients at times. If you or a family member has been directly affected by the negligence of a medical professional, you should not have to suffer any longer. Call a medical malpractice lawyer today to receive the compensation that you deserve.