7 Signs You May Need A Medical Negligence Lawyer
When you’re injured, sick, or suffering from a disease, the first thing you usually do is seek medical attention. Most people put their whole trust and faith in doctors, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals to do what’s best for their health. Unfortunately, too much trust might blind you to the oversights, mistakes, and other errors that your doctor might have committed, even if your gut is already telling you something’s wrong.
What is medical negligence?
Medical negligence, otherwise known as medical malpractice, happens when a healthcare professional neglects to provide the proper treatment, deviates from the care standards, or gives an inferior treatment that causes more injury, harm, or even death to the patient.
Medical errors can happen during diagnosis, medication prescription, dosage, treatment, health management, or aftercare. A study shows that over 250,000 people die every year due to medical negligence. In fact, medical errors are considered some of the top causes of death.
Thus, medical negligence is a serious matter that victimized patients should report as soon as possible to claim the compensation they deserve.
When should you contact a medical negligence lawyer?
If you’re uncertain about whether you’re a victim of medical negligence, contact a medical negligence lawyer. With their knowledge and expertise, medical negligence lawyers help clients prove their claim and ensure that they get the best settlement possible.
Regardless of how big or small the damage caused by a medical practitioner’s errors, your lawyer will argue your case on your behalf and handle complex paperwork to give you time and space to heal and recover.
Read on to learn the signs you may need a medical negligence lawyer.
- Misdiagnosis
According to Hopkins Medicine research, diagnostic errors or misdiagnosis is the most catastrophic, most common, and costliest medical negligence. Although a simple misdiagnosis may seem like a small problem initially, it can lead to the wrong treatment, wrong prescription, and delayed therapy. When caught too late, it can also lead to serious life-altering consequences.
So, if you suspect your doctor’s diagnosis has maimed you badly or caused you to take the wrong medication or treatment, you must reach out to a medical negligence lawyer immediately. They’ll do all the paperwork, gather evidence of medical malpractice, and communicate with your insurance company on your behalf.
To avoid misdiagnosis, it’s recommended that you obtain second, third, or fourth opinions from different doctors to compare their diagnoses and consider multiple treatment options.
- Medication error
Medication error can qualify as medical negligence. According to research, over 100,000 reports of medication errors are collected by the FDA annually. And due to medication errors, around 400,000 drug-related injuries occur at hospitals each year. Patients prescribed the wrong medications could suffer from painful side effects, adverse reactions, organ failure, or even death.
Hire a medical negligence lawyer so that you can file a medical negligence claim against the nurse, doctor, pharmacist, or any medical practitioner who provided you with the wrong medication.
- Opposing second or third opinion
As mentioned earlier, you need to seek a second or third opinion from other doctors, especially if you’re sceptical or unsatisfied with the first diagnosis or treatment. Doing this will reduce your likelihood of being a victim of misdiagnosis. If you’ve received an opposing opinion from your second or third doctor, one of these doctors is most likely giving an inaccurate diagnosis.
So, before things get worse, speak to a medical negligence lawyer and report the incident. Additionally, if you’ve received a different diagnosis, it’s best to seek a reputable doctor available in your area to ensure you get excellent healthcare services.
- Breach of confidentiality
Confidentiality is one of the core responsibilities of medical practice, and it’s also protected under state law. All healthcare providers and practitioners are expected to keep their patients’ health information private unless they’re allowed to release it for relevant reasons. The doctor-patient confidentiality is a permanent duty that requires a doctor to protect and handle the patient’s health data privately even after the patient has stopped seeing them or has already passed away.
Otherwise, if your healthcare provider leaks your personal health information in any way without your consent, this constitutes a breach of confidentiality and can be considered an invasion of privacy or medical malpractice. In that case, you can hire an attorney to help file your case for breach of confidentiality.
- Birth injuries or death of the baby
Another catastrophic medical malpractice is birth injuries. While some babies are born with injuries or defects due to genetics, another factor that could cause this is medical negligence. When the doctor, nurse, or midwife mishandled the baby during labour and caused permanent injuries or even death, the patient and the family have the right to file for a medical malpractice claim.
Besides the permanent injuries incurred by the baby, the mother can also suffer from serious mental illness or trauma due to the incident. A medical negligence lawyer will assist you in claiming compensation and recovering damages for both you and the baby.
- Concerns neglected by a healthcare provider
As a patient, you have every right to ask your doctor about all your health-related concerns and questions. It’s also their responsibility to tell you all about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment related to your health. Remember, medical care should be an active interaction.
However, if your doctor ignores all your concerns, refuses to answer your questions, or leaves you uncomfortable or clueless about your health, this is a huge red flag, and it’s considered medical negligence. In this kind of situation, you can consult a medical negligence lawyer to assist you in filing your claim.
- Permanent or disabling injuries
Healthcare professionals are expected to provide their patients with excellent care and treatment to help them recover and improve their quality of life. However, if you experienced disabling or permanent injuries while being treated or handled by a healthcare professional, regardless of how severe or mild it is, you deserve compensation.
Hence, you must search for a medical negligence lawyer immediately. Because the longer you wait to reach out for legal help, the harder it’ll be to prove your claim.
Wrapping up
No matter how much you trust healthcare professionals to look after you, they could still make mistakes. So, don’t hesitate to seek help from a medical negligence lawyer and file your claim if you notice any of these signs.
