These days, it is very easy to find reviews on pretty much every service, from auto care to restaurants to doctors. If people have a particularly bad experience, they can write a review online to warn other consumers. However, there are some experiences that are so bad that more needs to be done to hold the appropriate party accountable.
For example, if you go to the hospital to have a procedure completed to ease the pain in your left leg but end up in a worse condition because the operation was accidentally performed on your right leg, a negative review online typically won’t suffice. In these cases, a medical malpractice lawsuit may be necessary. However, it is important to understand that not all undesirable medical outcomes can or should lead to legal action.
Broadly speaking, medical malpractice claims need to be bolstered by an act of recklessness or negligence by doctor, nurse, hospital or other care workers. These parties have a duty to protect patients and make decisions that are in line with standard practices. Failure to do this could be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
In order to determine if an injury, illness or fatality is the result of medical negligence, it will be necessary to scrutinize the decisions made during the course of a person’s care. If someone made an unreasonable or unnecessarily risky decision at some point that compromised the patient’s health, it very well may be grounds for legal action.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that particular operation, medication or course of treatment will be successful. Complications do arise during all types of medical treatments and there are times when someone’s condition gets worse or an unforeseen situation arises that cannot be fixed.
However, if you do suspect you or a loved one has been the victim of medical negligence, you have every right to take action against the responsible parties. Not only can filing a lawsuit help you pursue the money you may deserve, it can also make a record of misconduct or mistreatment that can hopefully prevent other patients from suffering a similar event.
