When you do not feel well it is common to seek medical attention. With their education and experience, we hold doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to a higher standard. We believe that they can help to figure out the cause of our ailments. This often requires conducting various medical tests. But what happens when a doctor fails to order the necessary tests? It often results in serious and sometimes even fatal consequences. If you believe that your doctor failed to order you the proper test, you may have a claim for medical malpractice and should contact an attorney to learn more about your options.

A Delayed Diagnosis Can Result in Serious Consequences

When the proper tests are conducted and the results are discovered sooner rather than later, physicians can take the right steps to care for patients’ ailments. But when a doctor fails to order the proper tests, the health of the patient can often worsen, sometimes even making the normal course of treatment much more difficult or even impossible. As a result, the patient often suffers physically, mentally, and financially. Oftentimes, failure to receive the right medical tests can even result in death.

There are times when doctors order the wrong tests, or simply fail to order the right ones. Other times, in an attempt to save money, health facilities make doctors jump through hoops before they are able to order certain tests. This is often due to the fact that insurance companies will not approve of certain tests without others being conducted prior. In such a case both the doctor and the facility may be liable.

According to a recent Gallup poll, approximately 33 million adults in the United States have visited a chiropractor in the last 12 months. Chiropractic treatments seek to relieve joint pain and stiffness through manual manipulation of the spine and other joints. However, chiropractic adjustments have also been associated with adverse consequences including herniated disk, nerve compression, and even stroke. If a chiropractor’s negligence leads to a patient’s injury or death, the chiropractor may be subject to a medical malpractice claim.

Chiropractic Treatments and Vertebral Artery Dissection

The majority of adults will experience mild to moderate back pain at some point in their lives. For many, pain and stiffness in the neck or back becomes unbearable. Some sufferers turn to chiropractors in pursuit of relief. The majority of chiropractic adjustments do not result in serious patient harm. However, chiropractic manipulation of the spine has been linked with serious medical complications, including occlusion or dissection of the vertebral artery which often leads to stroke.

In a study published by the American Heart Association, individuals who suffered vertebrobasilar accidents were five times more likely than the control group to have visited a chiropractor in the week preceding the vertebrobasilar accident. Another study found that stroke victims under the age of 60 who suffered tears in the vertebral artery were six times more likely to have had chiropractic adjustments in the preceding 30 days than stroke victims that did not suffer tears in the vertebral artery.

Understandably, most people are nervous about having a surgical procedure done. Whether it is a minor procedure or a major surgery, going under the knife can be nerve-racking. While most surgeries are completed without complication, some surgery patients are injured or even killed by surgical mistakes. If you or a loved one were harmed by a surgical mistake at an ambulatory surgical center, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim. You may be able to recover compensation for your medical debts, lost wages, and other damages.

Errors at Outpatient Surgery Centers

More and more surgery patients are turning to same-day surgery centers for routine procedures. These centers are often less expensive and more convenient than having the surgery performed in a hospital operating room. However, an investigation led by USA Today and Kaiser Health News suggests that ambulatory surgery centers may not be the safest choice for even minor surgeries. Through the investigation, they found that 260 people had died after having routine surgeries at ambulatory surgery centers between 2013 and 2018. Many point to under-trained staff and lack of government oversight as reasons for their distrust in surgery centers. However, each case is different and there may be a multitude of factors that lead to a bad surgical outcome.

Medical Malpractice Claims Involving Same-Day Surgery Centers

If you or a loved one suffered new or worsening medical conditions after visiting a surgery center, you may wonder if you can bring a medical malpractice claim against the facility. There are four key components in a medical malpractice claim:

Getting a prescription filled at a pharmacy is something most people do dozens if not hundreds of times in their life. Pharmacists have the critical responsibility of reading doctors’ prescriptions and providing the correct mediation to patients. Although rigorous regulations are designed to prevent mistakes, medication errors do sometimes occur. If you or a loved one were given the wrong medication, the wrong dosage of medication, or you were otherwise the victim of a pharmacy-related medication mistake, the pharmacy may be liable for damages. You could be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and more.

Pharmacists and Other Pharmacy Staff Are Held to High Standards

Pharmacy workers must follow specific procedures and policies when dispensing medications. However, issues like staffing shortages, misinterpretation of a prescription, misunderstanding a doctor’s directions, and inattention to detail can lead to mistakes. Some of the most common pharmacy errors include:

• Dispensing the wrong medication, such as a “sound-alike” medication
• Dispensing the wrong dosage of medication
• Failing to warn patients about medication side effects
• Failing to account for patient allergies
• Failing to consider possible drug interactions with the patient’s other medications

Individuals Injured by Medication Errors May Be Entitled to Financial Compensation

To bring a valid medical malpractice claim against the pharmacy, you must show that a pharmacy’s substandard care led to some type of harm or “injury.” You must also have sustained damages because of your injuries. When pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, or other staff make medication-related errors, the results can be disastrous. While many medication mistakes go unnoticed or the patient catches the mistake before consuming the mediation, some medication-related errors result in considerable patient harm. The patient may experience new medical problems because of the mistake or the patient’s existing medical conditions may become worsened. This may lead to considerable medical costs as well as financial losses caused by missed work. Through a pharmacy malpractice claim, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by your injury. You may also be able to recover compensation for your non-financial damages including your pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, and disability.

One of the most devastating diagnoses someone can ever receive is a cancer diagnosis. However, once a person has been diagnosed with cancer, they can begin treatment. The sooner a patient learns his or her diagnosis, the sooner they can begin exploring their options, speaking with medical experts, and starting down the road to recovery. When cancer is not caught quickly, there is typically a greater chance of the cancer spreading throughout the body. In many cases, an early cancer diagnosis and swift treatment regimen can save someone’s life. However, when a doctor fails to diagnosis cancer or misdiagnoses it as something else, the patient may experience unnecessary pain and suffering and worsened health. The diagnostic mistake may even cost the patient his or her life.

Diagnostic Mistakes Involving Cancer

There are two main types of diagnostic mistakes regarding cancer: failure to property diagnose cancer and diagnosing cancer when the patient does not actually have cancer. More commonly, a person does have cancer but doctors do not take the appropriate steps to recognize and treat the cancer. It is often very difficult to know if a doctor has made a diagnostic error. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are not omniscient. They cannot always know for sure what is wrong with a patient. However, there are some cases where a doctor’s diagnostic mistake constitutes medical negligence.  

Inadequate Testing and Improper Testing May Lead to Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer

Some medical tests are able to detect cancer before a patient even exhibits symptoms. Cervical cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer may be detected through various types of scans. However, if a medical professional does not perform the test correctly or misinterprets the scan, a patient with cancer may be told that he or she does not have cancer. Cancer is not always detectable via scans and tests. In cases like these, doctors should use the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and family history to help make a diagnosis.