Malpractice AttorneyWhen You Need a Malpractice Attorney You Can Count On You need a medical malpractice attorney you can count on to provide you with a realistic view of whether or not you have been a victim of malpractice or negligence and whether your compensation claim will succeed. Likewise, the malpractice lawyer should have enough experience to minimise costs associated with litigation. Some of the common types of malpractice for which the patient can take legal steps to obtain compensation are briefly discussed below. You may have been a victim of one of the actions or failure to act according to procedure and not even know it. For this reason, it is recommended that you get legal guidance from a malpractice attorney you can count on to be truthful, thorough and professional. Misdiagnosis The delay in providing the correct diagnosis or where a doctor makes a complete misdiagnosis is exceptionally common. One has to understand that many medical conditions have similar symptoms and without knowing the exact circumstances which have led to a specific condition, previous treatments and the patient’s full medical history, a doctor can make a mistake. Not all misdiagnosis instances lead to serious personal injury and damages. On the other hand, where a misdiagnosis, for instance, leads to the prescription of incorrect medication or treatment that in turn causes harm to the patient, negligence can then be argued. Note that in this instance, it must be shown that the doctor did not follow the correct procedure in diagnosing and did not take adequate steps, such as conducting tests where necessary. The test is to determine whether a competent and trained doctor faced with the same situation would have reached the same diagnosis or would have been able to make another diagnosis following reasonable procedures. Birth Injury Just browsing through national newspapers will give you an indication of how many birth injuries occur as the result of medical malpractice, especially in the public sector. Such instances relate to injuries sustained during the pregnancy or during the process of delivering the child. Some of the injuries are minor such as a slight red mark, but others are severe, ranging from brain damage to paralysis, bone fractures and even death. Some of the injuries are not caused by the medical delivery team, but if the injury could have been prevented with proper care from the medical team following the correct procedures, then it is time to get legal help from an experienced medical law attorney. Mothers often don’t realise that some of the injuries are preventable if the proper medical care is given during the pregnancy. An example of such a situation is where the doctor fails to diagnose a medical condition from which the mother suffers during pregnancy including, for example, anaemia or the Rh factor. The consequence of failure to treat the condition of the mother can then lead to injury of the child. An example of probable malpractice is when the doctor fails to notice that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the child. The doctor’s failure to respond in time leads to oxygen loss and stress, which could have been prevented if the doctor had immediately performed a caesarean. These are only a few examples of malpractice. It would be in your best interest to get legal guidance if you have suffered physical and financial damage as the result of misdiagnosis or if your child suffered a preventable birth injury because of failure to act on the part of the medical team. Disclaimer Note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and should not be seen as an attempt to provide legal advice. We strongly recommend that you contact us at Adele van der Walt Incorporated for professional legal advice. |
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