Medicine is such a complicated and mysterious discipline that we have to trust our doctor’s expertise and knowledge in dealing with our health. How, then, do you begin to suspect that you’re a victim of medical malpractice? And how do you develop that suspicion into knowledge that can help you take action?
Here are 5 Red Flags for medical malpractice that you should act on:
Red Flag 1: Late Diagnosis
Late diagnosis is one of the most common forms of medical malpractice. There were warning signs. Your doctor may have run tests. You may have reported symptoms that pointed clearly to the condition you were suffering. But your doctor missed all of these, and now you have been diagnosed with late-stage cancer or advanced heart disease.
Red Flag 2: Changing Diagnosis
Another common form of medical malpractice is misdiagnosis. Typically, you are diagnosed with one condition, given treatment, and, when you don’t respond to that treatment, another diagnosis is made. Most often, you are diagnosed with something benign when your actual condition is much worse: heartburn rather than heart attack, hemorrhoids rather than colon cancer.
Red Flag 3: Discussions Are Vague, Inconsistent, or Missing Details
Your doctor rarely tells you the whole story of your medical condition. Usually they are trying to simplify the details to make it easier for you to understand, but sometimes your doctor seems to be glossing over parts of the procedure, steps that were taken, or decisions that were made. Other times your doctor may tell you things that don’t match with your memory or previous descriptions. This often happens in relation to the unexpected death of a loved one in medical care.
Red Flag 4: Developed Additional Conditions in Hospital
Once your loved one is under a doctor’s care, they should be getting better, not worse, but many times people get worse when in the hospital or under a doctor’s care. Medication errors, anesthesia errors, and hospital infections are types of medical malpractice that can lead to additional medical expenses, lost wages, and even wrongful death.
Red Flag 5: Doctors Don’t Seem to Know What Other Doctors Said
When you are dealing with a complex medical condition, it’s common for you to be handed off between general practitioners, hospitalists, and specialists. Communication errors between these doctors can lead to multiple tests being ordered but never evaluated, conflicting medication orders, and incomplete diagnosis.
Talking to a Lawyer Is Free
The medical malpractice lawyers at Andres, Berger & Tran are very experienced. We have helped many people understand when they are victims of medical malpractice. We know the signs to look for and the options afforded you by the law in New Jersey, so we can direct you to your best course of action.
Please contact us today for a free initial consultation on your legal rights and options.
