Having medical concerns is a situation that is not easy to deal with. It is not unusual for Pennsylvania residents to feel a little off and possibly experience stress and anxiety before they decide to visit their medical care provider. While some doctors and nursing staff do a stellar job of listening, assessing and ultimately diagnosing an issue, you may be among the many patients who feel as if your medical care provider dismissed your concerns or did not take the time to fully examine you.
In some cases, these feelings may not lead to any dire consequences. Perhaps the medical staff understood your concern better than you thought and handled the matter appropriately after you looked back on the situation. After all, stress, especially about your health, may make some situations seem worse than they are. However, if your doctor did not meet the proper standards of care when treating you as a patient, you may have experienced medical malpractice.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a serious issue in the healthcare field that involves doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and any other medical staff member making negligent mistakes or otherwise not properly caring for a patient. It is important to note that not all mistakes or negative outcomes to a medical situation fall into the category of malpractice. It is possible for doctors to do everything possible for a patient and for a negative outcome to still happen.
You may have experienced this type of malpractice if any of the following common scenarios apply to you:
- You underwent surgery only for the surgeon to operate on the wrong part of your body, to leave a sponge or surgical instrument inside your body after surgery, or some other avoidable error.
- You had a serious medical condition that medical staff members overlooked and therefore did not diagnose, or medical staff diagnosed you with the wrong condition.
- You received the wrong medication or the wrong dosage of a medication from medical staff that resulted in you suffering harm.
- You suffered due to an anesthesia error resulting from negligence, reckless actions or other errors on the part of medical staff.
The harm that these common malpractice issues can cause range in severity. Unfortunately, the most severe outcome of medical malpractice is the death of the patient. If you suffered harm due to the negligence of medical staff members, you may have reason to file a legal claim in efforts to seek compensation for the damage you suffered, which could include pain and suffering, additional medical bills and treatment, lost wages during your recovery and more.