Medical Malpractice

If you feel you have been injured by a doctor or someone working in a health care facility, you may be wondering if you have a case or not and if you need a lawyer.

Medical malpractice can arise from something that was done to you or something which wasn't done that should have been done.

Under the law you can seek compensation for injuries caused by medical malpractice. However, med mal cases generally take a lot of time and money to litigate, so it is usually unrealistic to sue for an injury that is "minor" or heals quickly.

There are many ways in which a doctor or surgeon can make a preventable error, some of the more common causes of medical negligence are:

Missed or Late Diagnosis: If a doctor does not recognize a condition as serious, the results could be fatal. If, for instance, cancer is found early, a patient stands a very good chance of recovery. But if a doctor fails to act on clear warning signs in a patient, he or she could be held liable if the cancer isn't discovered until it's too late.

Wrong Diagnosis: Many medical problems manifest themselves in ways that are similar. If a doctor diagnoses what is easy instead of what is correct, he or she should be made to answer for their decisions if the patient suffers as a result.

Prescription Errors: With the thousands of drugs that are available for almost every conceivable ailment, it is almost inevitable that mistakes will be made when the prescriptions are filled. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine, an estimated 1.5 million patients are sickened, injured or killed by being prescribed the wrong medication or dosage.

Birth Injuries or Deaths: Birth injuries can be caused by any number of reasons, including misapplication of forceps, or complications resulting from a breech birth or caesarean section. The effects of the injuries can be both physical (as is the case with Erb's Palsy) or can cause serious damage to the brain (cerebral palsy.)

If you have a legitimate case, with serious injuries, you will need an experienced attorney to navigate the powerful medical insurance world in order to be fairly compensated.  An attorney:

• With knowledge of medicine,
• With courtroom experience,
• Who understands how insurance companies operate.

Consult us at Jeffrey Meldon and Associates to see if you have a case.  Consultations are always free and confidential.  Call today.  1 800 373 8000