Medical negligence or medical malpractice can have life-changing – even fatal – consequences. When healthcare workers don’t meet the standard of care that’s expected of them, their patients can suffer unnecessarily.
If you’ve been victimized by a medical provider or healthcare professional and need someone to be held liable for their actions, you may have questions about whether your case is worthy of a lawsuit.
Today, we will focus on what qualifies as a negligent event in healthcare. We’ll share a helpful example of negligence in healthcare that will help you understand whether you can form a negligence claim against a medical provider. Plus, find out why you should work with a medical malpractice lawyer to defend your rights.
What Counts as Negligence in the Medical Field?
By definition, negligence in healthcare is when a medical provider – such as a doctor, nurse, or other medical staff member – hurts a patient by failing to give them a reasonable standard of care. In some cases, it could be prescribing the wrong medication, treating the wrong patient, or making medication errors (e.g. too much of one medicine and not enough of another).
Not every mistake counts, but those where the doctor’s actions fall below the medical standard absolutely do. For a case of medical negligence to warrant a personal injury lawsuit, certain factors have to be considered:
- Duty of Care: Did the healthcare provider have a duty to provide care to the patient?
- Breach of Duty: Did the provider fail to meet that standard?
- Causation: Can the negligence be linked directly to the harm the patient experienced?
- Damages: Did the patient suffer actual harm (physical, emotional, or financial) because of the negligence?
If these points are met, the patient could have grounds for a lawsuit. They could sue to hold the responsible people to account and be compensated for the harm they suffered.
Example of Negligence in Healthcare: Delayed Cancer Diagnosis
It’s important to clarify what negligence actually means. With that in mind, here’s a type of negligence found in a delayed cancer diagnosis.
Background: Routine Checkup Oversight
55-year-old Miriam goes in for her yearly physical. During the checkup, her doctor finds a lump on her breast and orders a mammogram. The results show the mass is abnormal and needs further investigation. Ideally, a biopsy would be done to rule out or confirm cancer.
Somehow, though, the doctor misses the abnormal results and fails to follow up on them. Miriam is reassured and sent home without any more tests or referrals to a specialist.
Consequences of the Delay
A year later, Miriam comes back for another checkup and mentions a constant discomfort in her breast. Another mammogram reveals that she now has an aggressive form of cancer that has spread to her lymph nodes. At this point, medical treatment is limited and much more invasive, leading to severe emotional and financial stress due to the negligence.
If Miriam’s doctor had not ignored or missed the initial test, her cancer might have been caught earlier. Treatment would have been much less invasive and had a higher chance of success. The example of negligence in healthcare here is the doctor’s failure to act on the abnormal results, which directly caused Miriam’s cancer to worsen.
How This Example Meets the Criteria for Negligence
In this case, the criteria for negligence are met through the following elements:
- Duty of Care: Miriam’s doctor had a responsibility to follow up on the abnormal test results when providing patient care.
- Breach of Duty: By not doing further tests, the doctor failed to follow the standard of care expected in these situations.
- Causation: The delay gave Miriam’s cancer a chance to worsen, exacerbating her health problems and lessening her chances of surviving.
- Damages: Miriam suffered physical, emotional, and financial harm because of the more invasive treatment needed for her cancer’s advanced stage.
This example of medical negligence involving cancer shows how ignoring or missing abnormal tests can drastically change a patient’s health and quality of life. Had her doctor looked further into the matter, Miriam’s cancer would have been found sooner. She would have likely had a better outcome as a result.
Now, she must pursue a legal recourse – such as filing a medical malpractice claim – to receive compensation for damages.
Legal Options for Victims of Negligence
In cases like Miriam’s, a medical malpractice lawsuit can give patients justice and compensation for the harm they’ve suffered. They can recover damages for losses such as:
- Medical Expenses: the cost of surgeries, treatments, medications, and overnight stays in a hospital setting.
- Lost Wages: If the patient had to take time off work for treatments or to manage complications, they may be compensated.
- Pain and Suffering: You could be compensated for physical pain, emotional stress, and reduced quality of life resulting from your hospital negligence case.
- Future Care Needs: For severe situations that need constant care, patients may be able to receive punitive damages.
Besides helping the patient cover their costs, a lawsuit is meant to hold healthcare providers accountable for not providing the care expected of them. Such cases could help prevent future negligence and improve the standard of care for others.
Recognize and Take Action Against Medical Negligence
The example of negligence in healthcare that we highlighted today shows how important it is to act quickly when you suspect a potential issue. You need to take action with the support of a medical malpractice attorney so that you can receive payment for your loss.
If you’d like to learn more about your legal options, we invite you to view our practice areas and contact the team at Potts Law Firm today. Schedule your free consultation to discuss your rights if you have experienced medical malpractice.