When doctors and nurses engage in negligent practices when treating patients and fail to uphold a reasonable standard of care, a number of different incidents and injuries can occur. Fortunately, victims of medical malpractice can hire an attorney to help them seek compensation from the negligent medical professional.
If you’ve been injured by a careless physician or medical professional, the Glastonbury medical malpractice lawyers at Connecticut Trial Firm can offer the information you need to file a winning claim. Let’s discuss the most common medical malpractice claims to help you determine if you have grounds for a claim or civil suit.
Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis
One of the most common medical malpractice claims is delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. When a doctor diagnoses a patient with the wrong condition or fails to diagnose them right away, the patient’s condition can worsen since they aren’t receiving the correct treatment.
Matters can be made even worse when the patient receives unnecessary treatment for a diagnosis that isn’t accurate. Several factors can lead to a late or incorrect diagnosis, including the following:
- Physician’s failure to recognize symptoms of a certain condition
- Failure to order the proper medical testing
- Failure to refer the patient to the appropriate specialist
- Mislabeled or misinterpreted test results
- Misplaced test results
- Errors that occur when administering a diagnostic test
As you can see, there are several issues that can lead to a delayed or incorrect diagnosis. If you believe your current medical condition is due in part to a doctor’s failure to diagnose you correctly, you may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim against them.
Failure to Treat
Another common reason to file a medical malpractice claim is failure to treat. A doctor can be held liable for failing to treat a patient because it goes against the standard of care that all medical professionals are expected to uphold. Examples of failure to treat include, but aren’t limited to, the following:
- Failing to give instructions to a patient for their follow-up care
- Discharging a patient from the hospital too soon
- Failure to monitor a patient’s known condition
- Failing to refer a patient to a specialist
- Failure to communicate important facts about a patient’s condition to them
- Failure to treat a patient who has signs of a serious medical condition, like a heart attack
If you’ve sustained a serious condition or your condition has worsened due to a doctor’s failure to treat you, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. An attorney can review your unique case and determine if you’re entitled to damages.
Drug Errors
Injuries caused by prescription drug errors can also warrant medical malpractice claims. While some drug errors only result in minor allergic reactions or other mild symptoms, some can cause serious complications and life-threatening health issues.
Drug error injuries can result from a number of different factors, including the following:
- Prescribing the wrong drug
- Failing to check a patient’s medical history or allergies before prescribing a drug
- Prescribing too high or too low a dose
- Failing to inform a patient how long they should use the drug
- Failing to recognize interactions between two drugs
If you’ve had a serious reaction to an improperly prescribed drug or your loved one has suffered a fatal injury due to a drug error, you have the right to seek legal counsel. A seasoned medical malpractice attorney can investigate the incident and file a strong claim against the negligent medical professional.
How a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help You File a Winning Claim
If you’ve suffered injury or have developed a serious medical condition due to one of the common forms of medical malpractice listed above, an attorney can help you file a claim for compensation. Here’s what a personal injury lawyer can do to make your case as successful as possible:
- Investigate your medical malpractice incident
- Gather evidence, including medical records
- Call on a third-party medical professional to act as an expert witness and provide their opinion on your case
- Use evidence and expert witness testimony to show your doctor failed to uphold a reasonable standard of care
- Negotiate a sufficient settlement with the at-fault medical professional’s medical malpractice insurance company
- Seek compensation in court, if necessary
- Ensure all important filing requirements and deadlines are met
- Fight for the results you need to treat your injury and move forward with your life
How Long You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Connecticut
As you can see, there’s a lot that an attorney can do to help your case. However, a lawyer might not be able to obtain the damages you’re owed if you wait too long to hire them. That’s because Connecticut has a statute of limitations for medical malpractice suits.
Connecticut General Statute § 52-584 states that you have two years from the day you sustained your injury to file a civil suit against the negligent medical professional. If you fail to do so, you may forfeit the damages you need to rebuild your life. The statute of limitations can only be determined by careful examination of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.
Meet With a Trusted Connecticut Medical Malpractice Attorney for Free
At Connecticut Trial Firm, our team knows how frightening it can be to suffer an injury due to the negligence of a doctor whom you trusted. That’s why we’re committed to holding the negligent medical professional liable for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain, emotional distress, and more.
Contact us today to get the client-focused representation you need to have peace of mind during your recovery process. We’ll schedule a free consultation to learn more about your situation. If we find you have grounds for a claim, we’ll do everything we can to get the results you need to get back on your feet.
