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Medical Malpractice

At some point in every person’s life, you are required to trust medical professionals with the health and well being of both you and your family. Unfortunately, that trust is broken every single day in both hospitals and doctor’s offices across the country. 

Anytime you step into a doctor’s office or hospital you expect your symptoms to be evaluated efficiently and accurately to ensure the best possible health outcome. We expect our medical professionals to diagnose and treat our illnesses/injuries within the standards of care set up and followed by the medical community at large. 

These standards of care were installed and are followed to provide the safest and most effective care for their patients. Without these standards of care, doctors or hospitals could put their patients at risk through unsafe or unsanitary practices.

It is all too common for patients to receive substandard care, doctors to make mistakes, and people to have their lives changed forever. Flynn and Associates believe that these tragedies should never happen but when they do, we have the best medical malpractice lawyers in NJ that will fight tooth and nail to get you the compensation you deserve. 

WHAT IS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?

The terms medical malpractice and medical negligence describe any instance where a medical professional fails to ensure the safety of their patients and leaves them exposed to the possibility of preventable injuries.  In the case that a patient experiences a preventable injury due to the malpractice or negligence of a medical professional, they can then file a malpractice lawsuit to hold the responsible party accountable. 

For a case to be legally defined as malpractice a doctor or hospital must have acted outside the bounds of the standards of medical practice. Whether your injuries were due to action or inaction, if the healthcare professional acted outside the guidelines of standards of practice you may have a medical malpractice case. 

It is important to note that any injuries you sustained from the health care provider must be severe to necessitate a medical malpractice lawsuit.

NEGLIGENT ACTIONS 

While medical professionals take an oath to do no harm, there are many procedures that can do serious harm when applied in the wrong context. 

Listed below are some of the most common examples of medical negligence: 

  • It is possible for doctors to misdiagnose their patients and either not provide necessary care or provide care to treat the wrong condition, which may cause unnecessary harm. 
  • Prescribing the incorrect drug to treat a disease or condition that may have horrible or possibly life-threatening side effects. It is also possible for doctors to prescribe medications at radically higher dosages than required. 
  • In the case of surgery, it is possible for doctors to provide the incorrect surgical procedure, successfully completing an operation on the wrong body part, or leaving foreign and dangerous materials in the body after a procedure. 

While the majority of these mistakes show up immediately, it is entirely possible for the effects of a mistake to show up years later with the patient suffering the whole time. Patients may not receive the care that they so desperately need because they were misdiagnosed whether that means not getting the medication or surgery they need to treat their condition. 

However, the effects of un-needed surgery or medication can cause tremendous damage through completely avoidable side effects that can possibly be fatal. 

NEGLIGENT OMISSIONS  

While it is more common for negligence to take the form of an ill-advised action it is also possible for healthcare providers to be negligent in their inaction. 

Some of the most common causes of negligent inaction are listed below: 

  • If a doctor or hospital does not adequately monitor the condition of their patients
  • A healthcare professional not following up with their patients to efficiently communicate test results or the need for further treatment. 
  • Not recognizing or taking a patient’s symptoms or complaints seriously
  • Not ordering vital tests or incorrectly assessing the results of those tests
  • Not providing treatment in a timely manner.
  • Not referring patients, they do not have the ability to treat to adequately equipped medical professionals or specialists

TYPES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE 

There are many kinds of medical malpractice lawsuits due to the extreme complexity of the healthcare industry. 

Listed below are some of the different types of the cases the Cherry Hill medical malpractice injury attorneys here at Flynn and Associates have had experience with: 

  • Injuries associated with the birthing process whether it involves the mother or the child.
  • Misdiagnosis of injuries/diseases leading to unnecessary treatment
  • Negligence that takes place in a hospital

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN-BIRTH INJURIES

With childbirth being the most important event in many people’s lives and such a delicate process it is critical that doctors and other healthcare providers follow the standards of care to ensure the safety of both the child and the mother. 

Some of the most common sources of healthcare provider negligence as it pertains to childbirth and postnatal care, are listed below: 

  • A doctor failing to interpret an ultrasound correctly and take the proper steps to ensure a safe and efficient birth
  • Doctors failing to employ C-sections in the correct manner
  • Not applying the correct amount of force during delivery and causing unnecessary injuries to the child
  • Failing to use forceps and vacuums in a proper manner when completing assisted delivery 
  • Prescribing incorrect medication or overprescribing pre/post-birth
  • Not counseling the parents on possible genetic issues that could arise during or after childbirth

These injuries can be extremely devastating both mentally and physically for the mother as well as effecting the most fragile population newborn infants. This kind of negligence can turn a process that should be filled with joy and new possibilities into both a mental and physical nightmare.  

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE MISDIAGNOSIS

In most cases catching a disease or condition early leads to a better prognosis or possibly lifesaving treatment that must be administered early to be effective. One example of this is in the case of breast cancer were tests that lead to early detection are stressed and applied to ensure the best possible prognosis. 

Due to the importance of the timing in a diagnosis, or a misdiagnosis can be extremely dangerous and lead to negative effects on the rest of your life. A misdiagnosis can lead to delays that may mean the difference between successful treatment and your disease spreading and causing irreparable damage to your body. 

Listed below are some of the most common ways that misdiagnosis can occur: 

  • Doctors don’t listen to complaints and order the correct tests to ensure that your complaints and symptoms aren’t connected to a disease or condition.
  • The doctor incorrectly reads the test or just outright ignores the results of the tests, which prevents any timely diagnoses or treatments. 

When a doctor misdiagnoses their patient it can lead to possibly lifelong injuries or disease complications or even be fatal. When a doctor misdiagnoses their patient it is vital that they are held accountable for the damage that they caused and so that they are never allowed to do that kind of damage again.