TOPIC: MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Malpractice is the negligent failure of licensed professionals to meet the standards of practice of the profession to which they belong. Medical malpractice occurs when patients are seriously damaged because healthcare providers and medical facilities fail to meet the standard of good medical practice in the areas in which they specialize. A healthcare provider may be a doctor, nurse, allied health professional (e.g., respiratory technician, physical therapist), or other individual assisting with treatment of patients under the direction of a licensed professional.
Examples of medical malpractice by healthcare providers include failures to diagnose conditions and diseases, such as cancer, when proper and timely diagnosis could have afforded the opportunity for effective treatment and increased quality of life. Medication errors may also constitute medical malpractice and occur in a variety of ways: a physician may erroneously order the wrong medication dosage for a patient’s condition, or a pharmacist may fill that prescription inaccurately, with both errors leading to the suffering of severe adverse reactions by their patients. Mistakes occurring during surgical, obstetric, and diagnostic procedures may also constitute malpractice when those errors cause harm to patients as a result of the negligence of the health care professional.
Examples of medical malpractice occurring in medical facilities range from failing to provide an adequate level of qualified staff to ensure patient safety to improperly calibrating instruments to maintaining unsanitary areas to which patients are exposed.
Medical malpractice legal procedures in Louisiana require that any claims against qualified healthcare providers must first be presented to a medical review panel before a law suit can be filed. Martzell & Bickford views this panel procedure as an opportunity to conduct an intensive review of the claim in order to understand whether the adverse outcome lies in negligence or is instead the result of unfortunate circumstance.
If you believe you have suffered malpractice at the hands of a healthcare provider or medical facility, it is important for you to seek counsel as soon as possible once you learn of the harm you may have suffered. The law provides very strict time limits within which claims may be brought against healthcare providers, and if you wait too long to investigate, the time within which you can bring a claim may expire..
If you are the victim of medical malpractice, our firm may be able to help you. Please contact us.
An Ohio woman has filed a malpractice lawsuit against a gynecologist who she says botched an endometrial ablation and failed to tell her that she suffered severe…
