How Pregnant Patients Can Protect Themselves Against Malpractice

When you become pregnant you must immediately gain a relationship with an obsetrician. This relationship is a patient-practitioner relationship that you must develop in order to ensure that you and baby are safe over the next several months of your pregnancy. Most of the time this relationship is great and everything works out fine. However, not every patient-practitioner relationship is all wonderful and more and more people are beginning to file malpractice suits against their practitioner. Although a practitioner may be at fault, they are capable of turning things around and filing law suits against the patient.

This is why it is very important to be prepared if the unfortunate befalls you at the hands of your doctor. In this article we will discuss ways to protect you as a patient against malpractice.

Always tell the truth! That means that when your doctor is asking you those embarrassing questions, like when was the last time you had sexual intercourse, do you have more than one partner, or do you drink alcohol or smoke, you need to be completely honest. You need to give your doctor you entire medical history without intentionally leaving any information out about yourself. Let your OBGYN know about your history of drugs, prescription or illegal, medicinal or recreational and any past illnesses or hospitalizations. Telling the truth can save you if your practitioner decides to flip the pages on you.

Follow medical procedure instructions carefully and precisely. If for example, you are in need of an x-ray, you will want to try to stay still during the procedure if that is what they are asking for. You don't want to be held responsible for something going wrong at your hands.

Don't reject medicines, procedures, instructions, or x-rays prescribed by the doctor. If you are refusing to comply with the doctor's orders and something ends up going wrong, their lawyer will look at how well you complied with their instructions. If you are going to refuse something, make sure to get a second opinion. That second opinion could save you a fight in court.

If your practitioner or any of their nurses or assistants are under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of treatment, refuse to let them examine you at that time. If you do, you are then held accountable for their malpractice, especially if you knew that they were under the influence at the time of treatment.

Follow the doctor's orders. If the doctor sets you up appointments or recommendations, you should take them. If they doctor is telling you that you need plenty of bed rest, take their advice, or if they are suggesting you take vitamins, medications, or get a certain amount of exercise you need to comply. If you choose to refuse, just make sure you have a second opinion to back you up.

Alert the doctor if any prescribed medication or treatment cause you to have a bad effect. If something your doctor has given you just doesn't feel right, make sure to alert them immediately. If you know that they have given you the wrong thing, call the office asap. Don't wait around and continue to put you and your baby at risk.

You should never threaten your practitioner, even if your medical experience is not going as you planned. If you have an issue with the doctor, you may want to speak calmly to them or to a supervisor at their office. Sometimes waiting a few days and letting your self calm down before speaking to them helps. Never get angry or frustrated in their presence. This can go against you in court.

Always take good care of yourself while pregnant. You don't want something awful to happen to you or baby, so make sure you are taking all of your vitamins, getting plenty of rest, and lots of exercise if needed. Taking care of yourself is a positive when it comes to a mal-practice suit. This also shows the court that you are responsible and you were taking care of your own health even if the doctor was not.

I hope that this article was of some help God willing.

Resources
What to Expect When You are Expecting by Arlene Eisnberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E. Hathaway, B.S.N.