It goes without saying that many people are unhappy with the level of medical care they receive. For one reason or another, they don’t feel that their medical team provided the care and service they deserve.
Of course, there is a big difference between bad service and medical malpractice. You need to know the difference, especially if you feel that your situation has worsened due to the negligence of or a mistake made by your doctor.
For medical malpractice to have occurred, the claim must prove:
— A standard of care violation
— An injury or illness directly attributed to the negligence
— The injury led to significant damage
There are times when none of these characteristics are met. There are also times when only one comes into play. However, if a claim has all three of the characteristics detailed above, it can be considered medical malpractice.
Some common examples include: performing unnecessary surgery, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, poor aftercare, premature discharge, improper medication, failure to recognize symptoms, surgical errors, misreading lab results, failure to read and understand patient history, and failure to order the necessary tests at the appropriate time.
If you are fortunate, every trip to a medical professional will be a positive one. This means that you enjoy the level of treatment and service, and that you trust the person you are working with.
Conversely, there are times when you may feel that you were treated poorly. If this happens, you should learn more about your situation as to determine if you have a medical malpractice claim. This will help you understand what to do next.
More information and malpractice examples can be found in this in-depth article.
