Medical Law with Regards to Misdiagnosis

When Can One Claim Compensation for Damages Suffered as the Result of Misdiagnosis?

Not all birth injuries can be attributed to negligence on the part of the healthcare professionals. If, however, your child has suffered a birth injury and you think that it could have been prevented, you should seek guidance from an experienced medical law firm in South Africa.

Birth injuries, regardless of size, should be seen as serious if those injuries leave the child permanently disfigured or disabled. A careless mistake by one of the staff members or an omission of timely action can lead to the birth injuries. As the child requires medical care and perhaps even extensive surgery to treat the injuries, the parents are likely to suffer financial loss because of such. In this instance, a medical law firm can assist the parents in taking the necessary legal action against the relevant party or parties.

Role of the Medical Law Firm

The medical law firm helps to determine whether the particular injury is a birth defect or injury as the result of medical negligence by calling on experts for more information. Should it be deemed that the injury was because of negligence, the law firm will advise the parents on the appropriate steps to take in seeking resource for the damages suffered. Should the parents decide to proceed with legal action, the law firm handles the proceedings on their part.

Typical Birth Injuries

Many of the birth injuries are preventable. Some of the birth injuries related to medical negligence are that of brachial plexus palsy, facial paralysis, fractures, and various types of brain injuries. Of course, many other types of injuries can be suffered, which is why it is best to discuss the injuries your child suffered with the medical law firm to determine whether the injuries could have been prevented.

How Does Legal Action Help?

Parents often feel that legal action would be too costly and complicated, and they simply want to devote their time to care for their injured child. Having to cover the costs of therapy, invasive procedures, aftercare, and various medical appointments, however, can become too much for the parents. In addition, their child suffers physical and emotional pain and trauma. The child may never be able to participate in normal life and social activities because of the injury and may even require special care 24 hours a day. A medical law firm can help the parents to get compensation for the medical costs, their child’s suffering, and loss of life amenities.

Damages payable include past, current and future medical costs, pain and suffering, and aftercare such as rehabilitation, expensive equipment and therapy. Damages are also payable for loss of life enjoyment. In addition, parents can get compensation for loss of earnings as the result of having to care for their injured child as well as any potential loss of earning capacity of the child.

Elements of Medical Malpractice

The injury sustained by the child must be the result of medical negligence or malpractice. The injury must thus be the result of the carelessness, mistake or incompetency of the medical staff and must not be a birth defect. It must have been preventable and there must have been a doctor-patient relationship. As such, there must have been a duty of care and the breach in duty of care must have caused the injury.

Where to Get Help

The first step is to make an appointment with an experienced medical law firm to help determine the merits of the particular case. For more information regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us at Adele van der Walt Incorporated.

Disclaimer

Information in this article is not intended as legal advice and is only for informational purposes. Please seek legal guidance from Adele van der Walt before relying on this information to make any legal decisions.

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