Signs that You’ve Received Substandard Care

At the start of their career, medical professionals take an oath to treat their patients to the best of their ability. However, some doctors, nurses and medical staff fail to follow through on their promise. Medical malpractice cases revolve around negligent care that causes harm to patients and even their families. As medical malpractice attorneys, we are here to help you understand substandard care and what that means for your personal injury case.

The Medical Standard of Care

While the standard of care does not have an explicit definition, it centers around the general consensus of the medical community. The medical standard of care is typically defined as the levels and types of care that a reasonably competent medical professional would provide. Put into simple terms, a doctor would carefully analyze symptoms, properly diagnose a treatment and provide adequate followup or aftercare for their patient — anything differing from reasonable action would be categorized as negligent. In addition, specialists are held to a higher standard of care tailored to their specialty. For example, a neurologist would be expected to provide proper scans and analysis for patients.

In medical malpractice trials, the medical standard of care is established by expert medical testimony. This means an attorney advocating on behalf of personal injury victims recruits experts in the medical field to explain the missteps of a doctor and how harm could have been avoided.

Defining Substandard Care

In law, medical malpractice requires four conditions: duty, breach of duty, harm and causation. Substandard care is synonymous with the second element, breach of duty. This means that a doctor failed to provide care or provided improper care given the circumstances, causing harm as a result. Substandard care often falls into one of the following categories:

• Misdiagnosis. Doctors may misdiagnose your condition, leading to improper treatments and causing further harm to a patient. This often occurs due to doctor’s failure to analyze initial symptoms and a failure to use diagnostic resources at their disposal.
• Prescription Errors. Medical professionals may inadvertently provide their patient with the wrong medication or wrong dosage. This can be a potentially fatal error if a patient has an allergy.
• Improper Monitoring. Some medical professionals may fail to properly monitor their patients’ condition or follow up after treatment. Improper monitoring is a form of negligence that can be particularly harmful during post-operative care.
• Surgical or Procedural Errors. Medical procedures can quickly go awry. Doctors may fail to follow acceptable medical practices before, after and during surgery, causing harm to their patient. For example, a doctor who uses excessive force while delivering a child may cause birth injuries to either the mother or the newborn.

Once you suspect that you have a personal injury case, monitor your condition for signs of medical malpractice such as a deteriorating condition, surgical complications or allergic reactions.

Start Your Case

If you believe you have experienced substandard care, you must investigate your circumstances and identify liable parties to have a viable case. When in doubt, contact an attorney for more information. At Zevan Davidson Roman, we provide expert legal counsel to those who have been injured — schedule a free consultation with our medical malpractice attorneys today.