Medical malpractice could take many forms
Individuals throughout the city of Saint Louis rely upon medical professionals to help them when they are injured or ill. In many cases doctors, nurses and others involved in providing medical care do this without the patient suffering any ill effects. Sadly, on other occasions the care is below the standard of what is expected and results in an injury to the patient. In the worst cases, the injuries are so serious that they lead to the patient’s death.
There are many different forms medical negligence could take. Some of the most commonly referenced are surgical errors and issues with the diagnosis of a condition.
Few people want to undergo surgery. Accordingly in most cases surgical procedures are performed only when they will provide a great improvement to a person’s condition or save their life. When a mistake is made in the course of a procedure, such as leaving objects in the body or operating on the wrong part of a person’s body, the outcome can be irreversible and sometimes catastrophic. These incidents can lead to pain and suffering as well as an increase medical bills.
The current state of medicine makes it possible for many medical conditions to be diagnosed before they get so serious that it is too late to provide treatment. When a doctor does not do everything that he or she is supposed to when trying to determine what is wrong a condition may be missed. This is also true in situations where tests are incorrectly performed or results misconstrued. When a condition is not properly diagnosed, the right course of treatment cannot be prescribed and a patient’s health may deteriorate even further. On some occasions, by the time the condition is correctly diagnosed, it is too late and permanent damage or even death has occurred.
When an individual or loved one faces any type of negligent care from a medical provider that results in injury or death, those affected may not know what to do. For some, that feeling of helplessness is alleviated a bit through filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. These civil lawsuits, which when successful, result in financial damages to the petitioner, are usually quite complicated. For this reason it is best to work with a lawyer one feels understands the process. For more information on these types of lawsuits, please see our medical malpractice page.