Medical malpractice is a legal term used to describe a healthcare professional’s negligent act or omission that causes injury or death to the patient. In most cases, it results from negligence on behalf of the doctor and other medical professionals, such as nurses and nursing assistants. However, it can also occur when something goes wrong with a medical device or treatment administered by someone in the healthcare field. A personal injury lawyer in Whitby can help you understand your legal rights and explain your options to make informed decisions about how to proceed with your case.
Medical malpractice can be unintentional or intentional. In some cases, it may be related to a doctor’s failure to diagnose an illness or condition that could have been easily prevented had they taken proper action. Here are some examples of medical malpractice:
Failure to Diagnose
This is perhaps the most common form of medical malpractice, which occurs when a physician fails to recognize a patient’s symptoms or diseases and treat them accordingly. For example, if you go to see your doctor for chest pain and he dismisses it as indigestion and sends you home without ordering tests that could have uncovered serious cardiac problems, this would be considered malpractice.
Failure to Treat
Doctors are also required to treat patients who come into their office complaining about specific symptoms that may indicate an illness or condition requiring immediate attention. However, doctors who do not provide adequate treatment for these patients could be held liable for medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice cases can be complex because they involve multiple parties, including experts and witnesses from different fields. A lawyer knows how these pieces fit together and can help protect your rights and those of your employees and patients.
Misdiagnosis
Patients often visit multiple doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis for their illness or condition because doctors don’t always communicate effectively when sharing information about patient treatment plans. This can lead to misdiagnoses that could cause further harm to a patient’s health or even lead them down the path toward death if not properly treated soon enough.
Failure to Follow Up on Test Results
If you have an abnormal test result, but your doctor fails to follow up with additional tests or treatment options, this could also constitute medical malpractice. For example, if your doctor has ordered blood work and you get a call saying there was an issue with one of the test results, but he doesn’t tell you what it was or what he plans on doing next, this could be considered negligence on his part.
You can count on your lawyer to be there for you throughout the entire process from beginning to end, explaining each step along the way so that nothing comes as a surprise or shock when it happens to you.
