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Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are two common reasons people hire the services of Indiana malpractice attorneys and law firms. A false diagnosis of a life threatening disease is one of the most traumatic events a person can endure. Imagine the fear that the patient and the patient's family have to go through when a patient is told that they have cancer or some other potentially fatal disease. Many times a second opinion or further testing reveals that the initial diagnosis was incorrect. By this time the patient and family have endured significant emotional suffering. And, to make matters worse, there has been a delay in treating the actual cause of the physical suffering in the patient. Delay in diagnosis is yet another reason one might consider suing for malpractice. Making the wrong diagnosis is bad but just as bad is making the right diagnosis too late. A delay in diagnosing a disease can allow it to worsen and in some cases may result in preventable death. It is easy to see why medical malpractice laws exist when you see the preventable suffering or even death caused by a misdiagnosis or a delay in diagnosis. Prescribing the wrong medication is also reason for a possible lawsuit.
Doctors are given the right and privilege of writing prescriptions for drugs that are so powerful that people are unable to buy them without the permission of a medical professional and with this great power comes a great responsibility to be sure that the medicine prescribed is safe for the patient and also that it the appropriate treatment for the ailment the patient is suffering from. The improper prescribing of medication could be cause to sue under current Indiana medical malpractice laws. If medication is wrongfully prescribed or if medication that could prevent further suffering is not prescribed this can possibly be considered negligence, and a good malpractice attorney might be able to recover damages for the pain and suffering of the patient caused by the doctor in question. In addition to mistakes made with prescriptions or diagnosis, surgical errors are potential cause for a malpractice claim. Although it is very difficult to prove, if it can be shown that an error occurred during a surgical procedure that was due to distraction, fatigue or poor training then it is possible to sue for malpractice. To err is human and even the best training in the world does not make a doctor or surgeon immune to their own humanity. Still, as patients, we are entitled to certain rights and expectations. An honest mistake is one thing. Negligence or incompetence is inexcusable. A guilty physician should be punished and kept from harming any others. Monetary compensation is not going to help a person return to the normal life they had before the medical catastrophe but it can help repair some of the damage or make up for lost income. Be sure and choose a lawyer who is well versed in Indiana's medical malpractice laws to allow for the best possible outcome. |
