How to Protect Yourself From Medical Malpractice

Some patients seldom question their doctor’s advice or line of treatment. The patient also expects that they will get the outcome that they have been assured of.

It is a reality that doctors are not perfect. The patients who have suffered because of medical errors would agree that doctors are far from perfect and can make mistakes that can injure and even kill the patient. Thousands of cases of medical malpractice are reported every year wherein doctors have either failed to diagnose the condition correctly, misread the test reports, prescribed a wrong medicine, or committed other errors. Patients need to be educated about the prevalence of preventable medical errors and should play a proactive role in their treatment. There are several things you can do to ensure that any medical errors are caught before they cause any harm.

Ask Questions!

About 39 percent of the medical malpractice payments in United States result from misdiagnosis, non-diagnosis, or delayed diagnosis. Also, mistakes in diagnosis are the most common and dangerous medical mistakes. Experts recommend that the basic and the most important thing that a patient can do is to ask questions. For example, the patient should ask the doctor if there are other possible diagnoses for the condition and why the doctor ruled them out. This will ensure that the doctor thinks about his diagnosis one more time and in a logical manner. This gives the doctor a chance to catch a mental oversight or a judgement lapse.

Patients should also be proactive about receiving test results. Rather than waiting for the doctor to call you back with the test results, you should call the doctor to check about the reports. This way, you will be able to seek timely treatment in case the test results are adverse. This makes sure that the diagnosis is not delayed and the treatment can be started.

Lack of Communication and Collaboration

Many medical errors are caused by the lack of communication and collaboration between doctors. It is possible that a patient has to see different specialists at the same time. In such a situation, it is important to share the medical reports, test results, and medications of one doctor with the other doctors. This is important to prevent any medical errors caused by the lack of collaboration between the doctors.

Being proactive may prevent medical errors, but this does mean that if the patient failed to ask questions, the doctor is excused from an error. Doctors are required to act reasonably and meet the accepted medical standards of care. If your doctor failed to act reasonably and you have suffered as a result, contact a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney to understand your legal rights.

Call Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-7200 today.