Medical Malpractice & Failure to Treat Your Medical Condition
Washington, DC Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Thousands of people will file lawsuits this year against a health care provider for not properly treating their medical condition. Many times, failures to treat occur as a result of a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or the failure to diagnose an underlying medical issue.
At Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., our medical malpractice attorneys have the resources and experience to handle these challenging claims for residents throughout the DC metro area. Allegations of medical negligence require extensive evidence and supporting arguments to be proven in court, which is why working with a lawyer is extremely important after you suffered preventable harm at the hands of a medical professional or any other medical care provider.
Learn more about pursuing a medical malpractice claim when you call us for a free consultation.
Understanding Negligence & Failure to Treat
All medical malpractice claims are centered on proving negligence, and claims involving failures to treat are no different. This means victims will need to show that a medical professional or another party responsible for medical services and care failed in their duty to provide a reasonable and expected standard of care.
Some examples of common cases involving failures to treat:
MISDIAGNOSIS
If your healthcare provider misdiagnoses you, you could be treated for a medical condition you do not actually have. This can not only put you at risk of suffering harm due to unneeded treatment, but also at risk for suffering complications and additional harm caused by your true underlying condition that was not properly diagnosed and for which you are not getting treatment.
For instance, if your healthcare provider believes you have a certain type of cancer, then surgery might be suggested, even though it may be on the wrong part of your body, and even though it will likely not resolve your true medical condition. You could also be administered medication for an illness that you do not have, which could prove harmful if you do not need the medication and if it makes any medical problems you do have even worse.
FAILURE TO DIAGNOSE / DELAYED DIAGNOSIS
Failures to diagnose an underlying condition, or any delays in diagnosing the condition, can be disastrous in the event of a serious medical issue. Doctors and other health care providers have an obligation to diagnose a condition that other medical professionals would agree can and should be diagnosed. If for some reason they fail to meet this obligation, as a result of oversight, incorrect data, or sheer negligence, victims may not receive the type of treatment they need to address their underlying condition.
Diagnostic errors commonly account for failures to provide treatment. While they are often committed by medical professionals who provide substandard care when evaluating a patient, testing them, and / or interpreting the results of tests, diagnostic issues can also arise for other reasons. In a recent event involving the DC public health lab, for example, the lab committed an error when testing hundreds of blood samples for the Zika virus.
As a result of the error, some patients, including pregnant women, were told they did not have Zika, only to later find out that they did have the virus when their blood was retested. As a result, these patients did not receive treatment or medical monitoring during pregnancy.
Zika is particularly concerning to pregnant women, as it can be passed to their baby and cause serious birth defects. In this instance, the lab could be held accountable for any damages victims suffer as a result of their failures to properly perform blood tests, which lead to mothers and their unborn babies being untreated.
Find Out if You Have a Case by Contacting Our Firm!
If you believe that you or someone you love were not treated with the expected standard of care, you might have a valid claim for compensation. Our legal team at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. can review your situation and help you better determine if you are the victim of malpractice or other failures committed during your testing and treatment.
If it is determined that you were the victim of medical malpractice because your healthcare provider did not properly treat you, you might be entitled to compensation for medical bills, pain, suffering, and loss of wages, among other damages. To find out if you have a case, contact us for a FREE consultation.
