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Medical Negligence: Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose
Medical Negligence is an action made by a medical professional. It is outside of the accepted standard of care by those in similar medical care positions. Malpractice is not limited to doctors.
Anyone who is in the medical field and provides direct care to the patient can hold responsible for malpractice. It is very important that you do not mix up the poor outcome, dissatisfaction, or negligence to respond to treatment as malpractice.
There is not a single medical procedure or treatment that has a 100 percent guarantee that it will work. And all treatments come with some form a risk. For malpractice to occur, the actions of the medical professional must cause harm to the patient.
Medical Negligence and Misdiagnosis
One of the areas of malpractice, figure out by a personal injury lawyer in OKC is Medical Negligence and Misdiagnosis. This can be a difficult type of case to prove. yet, it is not impossible. For a successful medical malpractice case to proceed, the attorney must prove the following four facts:
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There was an obligation of duty between the medical professional and the patient. This means that there was a working relationship between the patient and the care provider.
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The duty was broken when the medical care provider acted negligently in their duties.
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This breach of duties led to the patient being harmed.
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This harm has led to damages experienced by the patient.
In the case of misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose, your attorney will have to show:
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Other medical professionals with the same experience, training, or specialty would have acted in a different way. They would have discovered the true cause of the medical problem in the patient.
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Failure of the medical care professional to diagnose the disorder has led to the harm of the patient.
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This injury has caused the patient to suffer losses. Such as the need for more medical care and costs, lost time from work for proper treatment and more serious losses.
Example of a Medical Negligence
A 65-year-old woman presents to the doctor with a sore shoulder area. The pain seems to be radiating into the collar bone area. The woman says that the onset of symptoms seemed gradual. Yet, the real noticeable pain seems to have happened “overnight.” The woman has no other real medical conditions. This leads to a somewhat active lifestyle. She does not drink and quit smoking 20 years ago.
The woman also stated that she was working in her garden the day before she noticed the sharp pain beginning. The doctor, overworked and overbooked, attributes the pain in the woman’s shoulder area as age-related aches and pains. He prescribed a stronger version of an over the counter medication. And told her to ice up the area when it hurts. They did not conduct any further exams or testing or x-rays.
Four months later, the woman got admitted to the emergency room due to the excruciating pain in her shoulder area that has never gone away. Upon further exam, they discovered that the woman had classic symptoms of lung cancer.
If the diagnosis was a few months ago, the outcome for her current treatment would be much different. The original doctor could diagnose early-stage cancer in the patient. This is a form of Medical Negligence because there were many indicating factors that this was a possibility for the pain in her shoulder.
When You Think You Are A Victim Of Medical Failure
Do you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence? Oklahoma law about malpractice is very complicated. And legal help will be necessary for your case.
Once you hire an attorney, the next thing is to begin to document everything that you remember. Everything about your illness or injury, the treatment you received or failed to receive. Also, mention the outcome of this failed treatment.
This will be very relevant information for your attorney to use to help build your case. The next thing that you should do is begin to keep an injury journal. This journal should document everything surrounding your injury and your losses. Document how you feel if it is good or bad and keep it honest.
When you have good days, make sure to document them as much as the bad. Document restrictions you are experiencing as a result of the injury. Document expenses have a connection to the injury. Document what you talked about when you went to the new treating physician or therapist. You are building a case to show how this failure to diagnose or a misdiagnosis has harmed your life.
The Problem With Social Media And Malpractice Cases
Social media has become one of the main ways that people communicate with their friends and family. The insurance company covering your malpractice case knows this. They will track your social media account for information they can use to deny your claim. It is very important that you post as little information as possible about your injury. Don’t go in detail about your losses, how the accident happened. Also, how you think it happened and how you feel about the medical care provider.
Saying aggressive things about the doctor after medical malpractice makes you look hostile in the eyes of the insurer and court. This is not good for your case. You should also avoid posting pictures of yourself or your activities now. This also includes older pictures. The insurer does not know that the picture of you skiing was from last year.
In their eyes, you are out skiing and not harmed in any way. Pictures of you at celebrations and laughing may take in the wrong way. Your best bet is to limit yourself on social media. Moreover, we should avoid friend requests from anyone you don’t know until the case is over.