If you go see a doctor or another medical professional, you’d hope they will give you excellent treatment. Many times, that happens. However, occasionally a medical professional makes a mistake.
If that happens, then you may need to sue them. That’s what the legal industry calls a medical malpractice lawsuit.
You’ll need a skilled personal injury lawyer if you’re bringing a lawsuit against a doctor or some other medical professional who you allege harmed you. Before you look for one, though, it’s helpful to know about some of the most common medical conditions doctors cause that might bring about these types of legal cases.
We’ll talk about a few of them right now.
Hemiplegia
Traumatic brain injuries can cause hemiplegia. The term refers to when something causes paralysis or weakness that impacts one side of the body more than the other. A person might have hemiplegia from a stroke, cerebral palsy, a brain tumor, or a brain injury.
Often, if someone has hemiplegia, it occurs naturally. For instance, the individual will have a stroke, and the medical team treating them will observe hemiplegia symptoms. It’s also possible that a doctor or other medical professional will make a mistake during a surgical procedure that causes it.
If this happens, a medical malpractice lawsuit becomes likely. If the affected individual can sue the doctor on their own behalf, they may do so. If they no longer have that capability, then a family member might bring a lawsuit against the doctor or hospital in their stead.
Operating on an Incorrect Body Part
You may also have a situation where a doctor operates on the wrong body part. It sounds unlikely, but it happens sometimes.
As an example, maybe you have a patient who’s going in for a routine surgery. Maybe they tore the rotator cuff or labrum in their shoulder while playing football.
The procedure requires that a doctor render the patient unconscious, then create incisions in the shoulder. They will clean up the scar tissue and then stitch the tear in the muscle back together. An experienced orthopedic surgeon might do this surgery dozens of times over the course of their career.
A situation might happen, though, where the doctor cuts open the wrong shoulder. Only when they see that the rotator cuff or labrum doesn’t have a tear will they realize their mistake.
Most medical facilities take steps before a surgery to keep such a mistake from happening. They will clearly mark the shoulder and the patient’s chart before starting the operation. They will also ask the patient verbally multiple times before they put them under which shoulder needs the treatment.
If for some reason the medical facility fails in these tasks, though, that’s when the mistake can occur. It happens more than you might imagine.
Operating on the Wrong Patient
You may also have a scenario where a doctor operates on the wrong patient. Whatever the procedure, they may open up the patient’s body, only to discover that there’s no condition that needs correction.
Again, it doesn’t seem likely that such a mistake would happen without gross negligence, but people make mistakes. Crossed wires or poor communication among the hospital staff might cause such an error.
You may also have a situation where the doctor ingested alcohol or used drugs before coming to work. Maybe they’re hung over. Perhaps they’ve gotten no sleep or hardly any sleep for a couple of days.
Doctors can make mistakes, as can other hospital staff members. If a doctor operates on the incorrect patient, you can feel sure that a medical malpractice lawsuit will follow.
Leaving a Medical Tool Inside a Patient
You may even hear a horror story every once in a while of a doctor who leaves a surgical implement inside a patient’s body. They will open them up, perform the procedure, and then leave something inside the patient without noticing it. Only afterward when the patient shows troubling or baffling symptoms might an X-ray or an MRI reveal what happened.
That’s a shocking situation, and if it happens, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the patient or their family will sue the doctor or hospital.
Unnecessary Surgeries
A doctor might also misdiagnose a patient. Maybe they see symptoms and decide this individual has a certain condition, and they move forward with a diagnosis and treatment or an operation to correct it. Later, though, it turns out the patient never had that condition. That usually requires a lawsuit.
If that happens, then you would hope the misdiagnosis and the surgery, if one occurred, will not negatively impact the patient’s life moving forward.
You Must Prove the Doctor or Hospital Didn’t Meet the Care Standard
In any situation where a patient alleges that a doctor or hospital harmed them, they can sue. Locating a personal injury lawyer and filing a lawsuit doesn’t typically require much effort.
However, getting a settlement offer or a jury’s verdict in your favor usually requires that you prove negligence. That’s not always the easiest thing to do.
If the doctor did something really egregious, like if you can prove they ingested alcohol prior to operating on you, then you’ll likely force a settlement offer or get a jury’s verdict that awards you some money. If it’s not so clear that the doctor or hospital made a mistake, though, then they may dispute the allegations in court.
You must prove that the doctor, hospital, or whatever other medical entity you’re suing didn’t provide what the industry calls the standard of care. That’s a standard that you should reasonably expect as a patient based on currently accepted best practices.
You might establish a doctor or hospital didn’t provide the standard of care through your testimony. Your lawyer may also call on expert witnesses to give testimony that backs up your claim that the standard of care wasn’t met. Hopefully, you can get the money you need to feel that you got justice.
Image by Mohamed_hassan from Pixabay
The editorial staff of Medical News Bulletin had no role in the preparation of this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the advertiser and do not reflect those of Medical News Bulletin. Medical News Bulletin does not accept liability for any loss or damages caused by the use of any products or services, nor do we endorse any products, services, or links in our Sponsored Articles.
If you go see a doctor or another medical professional, you’d hope they will give you excellent treatment. Many times, that happens. However, occasionally a medical professional makes a mistake. If that happens, then you may need to sue them. That’s what the legal industry calls a medical malpractice lawsuit. You’ll need a skilled personal injury lawyer if you’re bringing a lawsuit against a doctor or some other medical professional who you allege harmed you. Before you look for one, though, it’s helpful to know about some of the most common medical conditions doctors cause that might bring about these types of legal cases. We’ll talk about a few of them right now. Traumatic brain injuries can cause hemiplegia. The term refers to when something causes paralysis or weakness that impacts one side of the body more than the other. A person might have hemiplegia from a stroke, cerebral palsy, a brain tumor, or a brain injury. Often, if someone has hemiplegia, it occurs naturally. For instance, the individual will have a stroke, and the medical team treating them will observe hemiplegia symptoms. It’s also possible that a doctor or other medical professional will make a mistake during a surgical procedure that causes it. If this happens, a medical malpractice lawsuit becomes likely. If the affected individual can sue the doctor on their own behalf, they may do so. If they no longer have that capability, then a family member might bring a lawsuit against the doctor or hospital in their stead. You may also have a situation where a doctor operates on the wrong body part. It sounds unlikely, but it happens sometimes. As an example, maybe you have a patient who’s going in for a routine surgery. Maybe they tore the rotator cuff or labrum in their shoulder while playing football. The procedure requires that a doctor render the patient unconscious, then create incisions in the shoulder. They will clean up the scar tissue and then stitch the tear in the muscle back together. An experienced orthopedic surgeon might do this surgery dozens of times over the course of their career. A situation might happen, though, where the doctor cuts open the wrong shoulder. Only when they see that the rotator cuff or labrum doesn’t have a tear will they realize their mistake. Most medical facilities take steps before a surgery to keep such a mistake from happening. They will clearly mark the shoulder and the patient’s chart before starting the operation. They will also ask the patient verbally multiple times before they put them under which shoulder needs the treatment. If for some reason the medical facility fails in these tasks, though, that’s when the mistake can occur. It happens more than you might imagine. You may also have a scenario where a doctor operates on the wrong patient. Whatever the procedure, they may open up the patient’s body, only to discover that there’s no condition that needs correction. Again, it doesn’t seem likely that such a mistake would happen without gross negligence, but people make mistakes. Crossed wires or poor communication among the hospital staff might cause such an error. You may also have a situation where the doctor ingested alcohol or used drugs before coming to work. Maybe they’re hung over. Perhaps they’ve gotten no sleep or hardly any sleep for a couple of days. Doctors can make mistakes, as can other hospital staff members. If a doctor operates on the incorrect patient, you can feel sure that a medical malpractice lawsuit will follow. You may even hear a horror story every once in a while of a doctor who leaves a surgical implement inside a patient’s body. They will open them up, perform the procedure, and then leave something inside the patient without noticing it. Only afterward when the patient shows troubling or baffling symptoms might an X-ray or an MRI reveal what happened. That’s a shocking situation, and if it happens, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the patient or their family will sue the doctor or hospital. A doctor might also misdiagnose a patient. Maybe they see symptoms and decide this individual has a certain condition, and they move forward with a diagnosis and treatment or an operation to correct it. Later, though, it turns out the patient never had that condition. That usually requires a lawsuit. If that happens, then you would hope the misdiagnosis and the surgery, if one occurred, will not negatively impact the patient’s life moving forward. In any situation where a patient alleges that a doctor or hospital harmed them, they can sue. Locating a personal injury lawyer and filing a lawsuit doesn’t typically require much effort. However, getting a settlement offer or a jury’s verdict in your favor usually requires that you prove negligence. That’s not always the easiest thing to do. If the doctor did something really egregious, like if you can prove they ingested alcohol prior to operating on you, then you’ll likely force a settlement offer or get a jury’s verdict that awards you some money. If it’s not so clear that the doctor or hospital made a mistake, though, then they may dispute the allegations in court. You must prove that the doctor, hospital, or whatever other medical entity you’re suing didn’t provide what the industry calls the standard of care. That’s a standard that you should reasonably expect as a patient based on currently accepted best practices. You might establish a doctor or hospital didn’t provide the standard of care through your testimony. Your lawyer may also call on expert witnesses to give testimony that backs up your claim that the standard of care wasn’t met. Hopefully, you can get the money you need to feel that you got justice. Image by Mohamed_hassan from Pixabay The editorial staff of Medical News Bulletin had no role in the preparation of this post. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the advertiser and do not reflect those of Medical News Bulletin. Medical News Bulletin does not accept liability for any loss or damages caused by the use of any products or services, nor do we endorse any products, services, or links in our Sponsored Articles.
Hemiplegia
Operating on an Incorrect Body Part
Operating on the Wrong Patient
Leaving a Medical Tool Inside a Patient
Unnecessary Surgeries
You Must Prove the Doctor or Hospital Didn’t Meet the Care Standard
