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It’s not easy to work in the medical field and care for people. Even doctors working for the strictest regulatory boards in the world will agree that no doctor has a perfect judgement 100% of the time, forever with no mistakes and no challenges. Overall, their success rate is unbelievably high, as is the case when good science and careful adherence to protocol is followed.
As patients, we often take our doctors’ word for, well, pretty much everything. That’s because we know we’re not trained to the same level, and our doctor of course has our best interests at might. But at what point could mistaken care, say a prolonged time before a correct diagnosis is made, or placing you on medication that doesn’t help, turn to malpractice?
That can be harder to prove, especially because doctors of course gain legal help against many spurious claims on an almost endless basis. It’s just the nature of the work. But that doesn’t mean your case is spurious, nor does it always mean your suspicions are wrong. But how do you consider that dividing line? It’s not easy.
In this post, we’ll discuss when mistaken care has most likely turned into malpractice:
When Repeated Complaints Have Fallen On Deaf Ears
Doctors are human, and sometimes they miss things on the first visit. That’s normal. What becomes concerning is when you keep bringing up the same symptoms or concerns, visit after visit, and nothing changes in your treatment plan. Your doctor might dismiss your pain, attribute everything to stress, or keep telling you to wait it out while your condition gets worse.
Good medical practice is always going to include listening to patients and adjusting treatment when symptoms contonuie or worsen. If you’ve been back multiple times with the same issues and your doctor seems annoyed or dismissive without exploring other possibilities, that’s an issue. It might not be full-blown malpractice yet, but you have enough for a complaint.
When Injury Or Harm Can Be Proven
Mistakes happen, of course, but malpractice that causes measurable harm is pretty clear-cut. This could be a delayed cancer diagnosis that allowed the disease to spread, a surgical error that caused permanent damage, or medication that made your condition worse and not being warned of those risks. The important word here is “measurable.” You need to show that the doctor’s actions directly led to your injury or worsened health.
That means more than simply feeling frustrated or disappointed with your care. There needs to be clear evidence that proper medical treatment would have prevented the harm you suffered. As such, medical records, expert testimony, and sometimes additional medical treatment to fix the problem all become important pieces of evidence if you want to escalate that in a legal context. That’s when you find an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
When Treatment Isn’t Clear
Medicine is always complex, but any patient deserve to understand what’s happening to their bodies and why certain treatments are being recommended. When doctors fail to explain procedures, don’t inform you of risks, or decide on treatments without clear reasoning, they may be falling below acceptable standards of care. This includes situations where you weren’t told about alternative treatments or given proper informed consent.
With this advice, you’ll be sure to know when you have a right to escalate a malpractice lawsuit.
