Medical negligence occurs when a doctor, dentist, nurse, surgeon or any other medical professional performs their job in a way that deviates from an accepted medical standard of care. Medical negligence is the foundation of a medical malpractice claim. Here are some common types of medical negligence. If you’ve suffered an injury from any of the following kinds of medical negligence, you should contact an Colorado attorney immediately!
Misdiagnosis: One of the most difficult aspects of a doctors job, is taking a set of symptoms and diagnosing the illness or injury causing them. There are many different illnesses that may result in similar symptoms, but require very different treatment. For this reason, it is important that, if a doctor has doubt regarding a diagnosis, further testing should be done.
Failure to Timely Diagnosis: Often an illness or injury becomes increasingly difficult to treat as time goes on. It is therefore important that a doctor diagnose an illness or injury in a timely manner.Surgical Error: Surgical errors are a common form of medical negligence, and usually involve a doctor accidentally cutting or cauterizing an internal organ or tube, which can be defined as a negligent act if careful performance could have prevented it.
Failure to Follow Up with Treatment: This is a broad form of medical negligence that involves a doctor prescribing treatment, then failing to monitor the progress and adjust or cease treatment accordingly.
Failure to Treat in a Timely Manner: Once a doctor makes a diagnosis regarding a patients’ illness or injury, treatment should be administered within a time frame that gives the patient the best possible chance at recovery. If a doctor fails to act quickly enough to treat the patient, then negligence may have occurred.
Anesthesia Errors: Anesthesia errors can lead to severe brain injury, organ failures, and even death.Medication or Prescription Error: Medication and prescription negligence generally occur in one of two ways: 1. A doctor prescribes a patient a drug or medication that causes injury due to a dosage error, misdiagnosis of symptoms or failure to check for allergic reaction, or; 2. A prescription is filled incorrectly by a pharmacist, which can lead to injury to the patient. One case places liability for medical negligence on the prescribing doctor, and the other on the pharmacist.
Should I Contact an Attorney? If you’ve been injured as a result of medical negligence in Colorado, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney today. Due to the complexity of the issues involved, and the fact that hospitals and health care providers have large legal budgets at their disposal, it is important that you talk to an attorney. An attorney can help protect your rights and get you the maximum compensation for which you’re entitled. Don’t take on the insurance companies alone: contact a Colorado personal injury attorney today.