When you go to a hospital or other medical facility, you are trusting the healthcare professionals to provide the care you need. Unfortunately, too often doctors and nurses don’t put the time and attention needed to carefully deliver the needed medical services. Today, medical negligence is a real problem. Johns Hopkins published a recent study estimating that medical errors cause over 250,000 deaths each year in the US. This makes medical malpractice the third leading cause of death in our country. Countless other patients are injured by errors.
If you or a loved one suffered harm during medical care, it’s vital to recognize your legal options. An understanding begins with the definition of medical negligence: failure to provide that care which a reasonably prudent health care professional would under similar circumstance.
Below, we’ll detail main factors of medical negligence, including:
Call our firm at (813) 993-1448 for more information on your potential case.
Surgical Errors
It’s disheartening to know that a doctor can make a mistake when it comes to surgical procedures. We cannot expect surgeons to be perfect and some complications from surgery occur with reasonable care. Yet, many bad outcomes do stem from bad medicine. For example, a surgeon has done too many cases that day and is fatigued or rushes to get to the next procedure. As a result, a nerve is not protected or an artery is severed. Such surgical errors should never occur and can lead to permanent damages and even death.
Other surgical errors include:
- A doctor performing surgery on the wrong patient
- A doctor performing surgery on the patient’s wrong body part
- A doctor leaving a foreign object inside a patient after the surgery is complete
- A doctor not sanitizing surgical equipment
Our lawyers have the knowledge to discern “known complications” from bad medicine preformed by the surgeon or operative team. We have highly respected medical experts to help us advise you whether your outcome was the result of malpractice.
Misdiagnosis
When you have an illness or disease, you expect your doctor to provide you with the proper diagnosis and treatment plan. In many situations, though, misdiagnosis occurs and creates significant problems. It’s important to know two things about misdiagnosis: how they happen and why they’re so problematic.
Misdiagnosis can occur for numerous reasons, such as an issue with testing; failure to order a needed test or misinterpretation of the test results.
After a misdiagnosis, though, is where much of the major problems come into play. With a misdiagnosis, a patient may receive treatment they don’t need. Even worse, the patient may not receive the treatment they need, allowing their illness to worsen.
Cancer misdiagnosis is one of the most devastating problems for the patient. Delay may take away the chance to survive. Treatment for a breast cancer that was never there can leave the patient devastated and unnecessarily disfigured. The diagnosis of indigestion without an EEG to rule out an evolving heart attack may mean death. A headache without a CT-scan may mean a preventable stroke leaves the patient with incapacitating brain damage.
Our firm is here to give patients and their family members a better understanding of whether malpractice is the reason for their loss and bring accountability to medicine.
Prescription Errors
When a doctor prescribes medication, it can be very helpful in treating pain, medical conditions, and other ailments you may have. Unfortunately, errors concerning prescriptions can lead to long-term health problems, especially if you receive the wrong type or amount of a drug.
When used correctly, medication is an excellent resource. However, drug errors can maim or kill patients. It’s up to your doctor and pharmacist to ensure they’re prescribing and dispensing the right medication and right amount. This means taking the care and time to know your medical history, allergies, and other features to consider when selecting the right drug for you.
At Gunn Law Group P.A., we have significant experience in medical negligence cases. Not only have we been trusted by many clients over the years, we’re also a firm that other lawyers rely on for referrals in these types of cases. We’ve shown over the years that we have the knowledge and resources to help pursue the compensation our clients need and deserve.
Our Tampa medical negligence lawyers are ready to help you through the complex legal matters you may encounter from medical malpractice. We’ll work to determine who may be accountable and what you can do to pursue justice for you and your family.
Call our firm today at (813) 993-1448 for a free case evaluation. We’re ready to help you every step of the way with a focus on protecting your best interests.
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