Just about every time you go to a doctor to get some medical treatment, you are taken care of very well and professionally. However, doctors and nurses are also human and can make mistakes just like anybody else. The problem is that when a doctor or nurse makes a mistake the consequences can be quite serious. If this has happened to you then you may have a personal injury claim in the form of a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Some of these cases are not easy to prove, however. There are some signs that you can see which help you understand if you have a possible claim to bring to a law firm like the Lamber Goodnow injury team.
In this article, we will cover some of the signs that you have a winning case.
1 – Surgical errors
Surgery is always a very delicate procedure and can have lasting effects even when everything goes well. When a mistake is made during surgery, the effects can be devastating. Sometimes tools may not have been properly sterilized or there could have been something left inside you that gets infected.
Sometimes the surgery could also be done completely wrong. An example is when the wrong limb is operated on due to a miscommunication in the surgery theater. In any of these scenarios, you have a very solid case for a malpractice suit since the injury or illness was caused by negligence before or during the surgery.
Since the fact that you are not healing as expected is not a sign in and of itself that you experienced negligence, there needs to be something concrete that you can point to that is the cause of the problem.
2 – You weren’t able to give informed consent
There is a very rigid process that takes place before any surgery or medical treatment in which the doctors will give you all of the information necessary to make a decision yourself. They can’t operate on you without you giving them consent unless you were in an accident or otherwise incapacitated.
This is informed consent and it requires you to understand what the procedure is supposed to do and how it will affect you. You will need to understand the risks and side effects before you agree to anything.
If you don’t have this opportunity and are given treatment anyway then this could be a case. If you suffered from an adverse effect and didn’t give consent then this is a very clear case.
3 – No aftercare
After treatment is performed the work of the hospital or doctor is not finished there. You will need to be followed up with to make sure that the recovery is as expected. If there were problems that went unaddressed then this could be a case for negligence since they are responsible for following up. Take note of any communication or lack of it if there are problems with your recovery.
Navigate the legal world through our Legal Blog; connect, contribute, and make an impact by writing for us – your legal perspectives are crucial to our discussions
