Becoming ill, having an ongoing health issue, or being involved in an accident is traumatic and scary. You are likely confused, afraid and unsure about your health status and what will come after for you, and you depend on a medical professional to give you quality care in order to achieve the best outcome.
During these times, when you might visit a doctor, end up in the emergency room, have a non-surgical procedure performed by a medical professional, or get operated on by a surgeon that your fate is literally in the hands of these medical professionals. Although they may not guarantee a specific outcome of your medical treatment, they do owe you a duty of care that says that they must act professionally and along the lines of what you would reasonably expect from someone with their credentials. You as a patient have rights and when this does not occur and you are injured, you can call a skilled medical malpractice lawyer like Philadelphia attorney Stuart Cohen to launch a medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical professional.
How is Medical Malpractice Defined?
Medical malpractice is a broad legal term that covers a range of different issues and is fundamentally a comprehensive term for when a medical professional does not act professionally in a medical setting.
The term most often applies to negligence although other circumstances can also apply.
If the medical professional has violated the accepted standard of care, causing you or a loved one injury, there may be grounds for a claim. Medical malpractice must be provable and shown that your health care provider’s actions directly caused your injuries.
The Types of Medical Malpractice Most Often Claimed
Medical malpractice can occur in hundreds of way, but there are some types of cases that are typical. Here are a few of the ones seen most often.
Surgical Errors
Surgery is often very complicated, involving a team of medical professionals working in a coordinated fashion. They must each do their jobs properly to ensure that the patient is safe and the procedure is performed as expected. Quite often there is a mishap. Everything from a surgeon removing the wrong organ, to a medical device being left inside a patient, to too much anesthesia being given. When these types of issues and so many others occur, it is grounds to launch a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are by far some of the most common medical malpractice cases. Doctors can often miss signs or misinterpret them and treat the wrong medical issue because of this. When this happens a patient can receive medicine or a medical treatment that can cause harm mentally and physically. Injured patients in these cases will often seek out legal help for compensation.
Injuries During Childbirth
Childbirth is a very complicated type of medical procedure. The medical staff must concern themselves with the life of two people with one a fetus trying to become a newborn baby. The situations with mother and baby is constantly changing and sometimes very quickly. This can often lead to mistakes by the medical staff leading to mother or child being injured. Common injuries to the baby can include fractures, nerve damage, and brain injuries. The mother can have internal bleeding, negative effects from too many or too much drugs and labor issues that get misread causing the wrong procedures formed leading to injury. Any of these issues creates a situation where there is a potential medical malpractice lawsuit possible. Although childbirth is a woman’s issue it certainly will involve the father is anything goes wrong with either mother or child.
Men should understand the legal issues around medical malpractice so they can know when to call an attorney or help someone close to them who might need correct guidance. It can produce a needed financial settlement and help with the pain and suffering.