Mis-diagnosis, Surgical Errors Bringing on Medical Negligence
One of the most tough aspects of a doctor’s jobs is taking a set of symptoms and diagnosing the illness or injury causing them. In many cases, many different illnesses may result in similar symptoms, but will require very different treatment. For this reason, it is necessary that, if a doctor has doubt regarding an analysis, further testing should be done.One of the most common and dangerous forms of medical negligence relates to heart attack diagnosis, or coronary artery disease.
Coronary artery disease is a condition that may not show symptoms for many years, yet can ultimately result in a massive heart attack and death. Often times, the first manifestation of an impending heart attack will be chest pains, which can be misdiagnosed as strained muscles or something similar.Sometimes, a disease or injury becomes more and more difficult to treat as time goes on. It is usually critical that a doctor diagnose an illness or injury in an proper amount of time, so that treatment is often administered and the patient made well.
A common example is a case of cancer. If cancer is diagnosed early on, then the patient stands a much greater chance at recovery than if it is allowed to spread. Diagnosis of cancer can be done early on if the doctor is given a chance to examine the patient, such as at a routine check up, or a visit to the hospital for some possibly related symptoms. If the doctor does see the patient, and fails to diagnose potential symptoms of cancer, then the patient may be sent home and the cancer will be allowed to spread. Whether or not this is negligent treatment depends on the circumstances of the case.
Surgical errors are a common form of medical negligence and often involve a doctor accidentally cutting or cauterizing an internal organ or tube, that may be defined as a negligent act if careful performance would have prevented it.
Common injuries caused by surgical errors have to do with foreign fluids, just like urine, bile or feces, entering the abdominal cavity through a cut unintentionally made during a surgical procedure. This often leads to severe infections and sepsis shock which can lead to a patients death.One more type of surgical errors which usually can lead to medical negligence is called a wrong site surgery and is exactly what it sounds like. There have been cases reported of patients needing an arm, leg, hand, finger or other appendage amputated, and a mistake prior to surgery leads to the wrong appendage being amputated.
Martin Cookspecialises in He also covers clinical negligence cases and the negligence claim niche generally.
