Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is the general legal term used to describe any incident in which a patient is unduly harmed by a physician through medical procedure, medication, medical advice or failure to recognize symptoms of disease. Specific examples of medical malpractice cases that we have handled include birth injury, misdiagnosis of cancer, surgical errors in which the wrong limb is removed and orthopedic conditions. Our medical malpractice attorneys also handle cases involving faulty pharmaceuticals. We understand that no one is perfect, but if a physician makes a mistake that changes your life for the worse, we’ll be there to help.
Real Mistakes Can and Do Happen
- Surgical sponges, instruments and needles are still left behind due to hospital mistakes.
- Foreign material left in the body can cause serious impairment and infection.
- If not timely recognized and removed, foreign objects left in the body can lead to permanent disability or death.
Lack of Proper Medical Monitoring
- With proper medical monitoring, retained surgical instruments, needles and sponges can be avoided.
- Establishing, maintaining and following proper policies, procedures and protocols helps to avoid retained surgical instruments, needles and sponges.
- Retained instrument cases almost always involves a failure to properly follow policies, procedures, and protocols.
Infection
- Failing to appreciate signs of a developing infection can cause permanent tissue damage, resulting in organ damage, amputation, loss of sight, or death.
- Obtaining a timely and appropriate infectious disease consultation is an important part of providing proper medical care.
- Timely treatment of infections is critical to prevent permanent tissue damage, extended hospital or ICU stays, and lifelong disability.
Birth Injuries
Our attorneys have helped many parents fight for compensation from negligent physicians and hospitals who have caused harm to infants during birth.
Misdiagnosis
Medical professionals are trained to care for and heal their patients. Part of the health care and treatment process is the diagnosing of diseases. This is an art unto itself and is left to the expertise of educated physicians. Misdiagnosis is a serious issue for patients as it can have a wide range of consequences. Doctors have been known to miss warning signs for certain types of cancer thus dangerously delaying treatment for a disease that requires early detection for success. Patients are sometimes misdiagnosed with a disease that they do not even have and are given harmful medications that worsen the real health problem. If you believe you have been misdiagnosed or that your diagnosis of a serious disease was delayed because of medical negligence, contact our office in Portland, Oregon today for help.
- Serious illness or injury results from medical misdiagnoses every year.
- Proper medical vigilance ensures patient safety,
- Mistakes occur due to lack of time, care and attention from healthcare providers.
- Misdiagnosis can lead to improper medications being given, a delay in treatment, progression of disease, and permanent disability, damage or death.
- Many misdiagnosis cases are the result of medical mistakes or errors in medical record keeping.
Surgical Errors
Surgery is a serious undertaking for both the patient and the surgeon involved. There are fundamental risks in any surgery that a skilled and meticulous surgeon should overcome. But in cases where injury is incurred through the fault of the surgeon, medical negligence could be to blame. It is the surgeon’s responsibility to thoroughly understand the patient’s case and the appropriate corresponding procedure before committing to surgery. There are actually documented cases of surgeons removing the wrong limb or performing the wrong procedure on a patient because of hospital confusion. Contact our medical malpractice attorneys today to find out how we can help you.
Wrong Site Surgery
- Hospital certification rules require procedures to protect against wrong site surgeries.
- Procedures to correctly identify the site of surgery is a shared responsibility of the surgeon, surgical team, and nurses.
- Wrong site surgeries increase the trauma and delay the healing time for patients.
Orthopedic Conditions
Orthopedic conditions cover a wide range of bone injuries that, if the fault of a physician or employer, can have serious legal implications. Orthopedic injuries include back pain, arthritis, joint injuries of the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder and knees, hip pain, ankle problems and joint replacement surgery. Physical injury is called personal injury if incurred through employment such as a construction accident or repeated, strenuous activities such as heavy lifting. Medical negligence or malpractice covers injuries sustained from a physician and may include mistreatment of broken and fractured bones or joint replacement using faulty materials. Orthopedic conditions can be very serious and must be attended to immediately. If your orthopedic condition was caused by the negligence of another, please contact us today.
If you have questions about your case, please contact our personal injury attorneys in Portland, Oregon today. We can help.
