Signs of Medical Malpractice from Florida Health Care Providers
The Sunshine State is home to many world-renowned medical centers that earn their reputations by providing top quality patient care. Almost every year, you’ll find Mayo Clinic Hospital of Florida, Tampa General Hospital, Advent Health, and the University of Florida Hospital and Health Care network at the top of the list in US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals in Florida.
However, even top-rated physicians, specialists, nurses, and other medical staff can make mistakes. When they do, you could suffer serious bodily harm and other losses. You could be entitled to compensation, but success with a medical malpractice claim depends – in part – upon whether you can recognize an error. Talk to a knowledgeable Florida medical malpractice attorney about the specifics, and look out for some of the common signs of mistakes by health care providers.
Medication Errors: The most common mistakes in this area involve the wrong prescription or an improper dosage of the right medicine. As a result, you could suffer from drug interactions or contraindications with an existing medical condition. In worst-case scenarios, patients may overdose, causing long-term harm to internal organs or even death. If you experience unusual or painful reactions to a prescription, it may be a result of medical malpractice.
Misdiagnosis: The implications of a missed diagnosis, delayed detection of a medical condition, or wrong diagnosis can be severe. You could be deprived of proper medical care entirely, which means your ailment could worsen over time. Such a mistake is particularly devastating in the case of a failure to diagnose cancer, which could become terminal without proper treatment.
With an inaccurate diagnosis, the harm may be just as considerable. Your physician may attribute your symptoms to the wrong medical condition and provide incorrect – often damaging – treatment. When your care starts from the wrong diagnosis, you’ll also receive the wrong procedure, medicine, or other treatment.
Treatment Without Informed Consent: Medical procedures and prescriptions come with some risk to the patient, whether it’s side effects, drug interactions, complications, or infection. Your physician has a professional obligation to explain the risks in the context of the benefits your treatment will deliver. If you don’t have enough details to make a responsible decision, fault may lie with your health care provider for not getting informed consent.
Complications During or After a Medical Procedure: Surgery carries inherent risks, but post-operative complications are usually low with routine procedures. Any of the following factors may give rise to a claim for medical malpractice:
- Performing a procedure with unsterile equipment
- Surgery on the wrong body part or the wrong patient, sometimes due to a chart mix up
- Birth fatalities and injuries
- Improper sutures or wound care
- Nicking an adjacent organ or tissue when performing surgery
Contact a Skilled Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney
If any of the above indications of medical errors sound familiar, you should discuss your circumstances with an experienced Florida medical malpractice lawyer. For more information on medical malpractice cases, please contact Freidin Brown, P.A. to set up a free consultation at our offices in Miami or Fort Myers, FL.
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