Medical Malpractice Explained

A family friend was recently taken to the hospital and discharged within a few hours without any diagnosis being made. A few hours later, she was hospitalized again and this time they found life threatening blood clots in her system. Can she sue the doctor for missing the diagnosis the first time around?

As with all legal questions, the simple answer is "it depends." First, I would have to ask whether the patient had any detrimental effects due to the misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice is heavily centered upon actual damages and many times, unless the patient suffers severe injuries or life defects, there would not be a viable case. Many attorneys stray away from such cases unless someone loses a limb or suffers severe neurological damage.

The main reason for this is that it is extremely difficult to prove that a medical professional made a mistake in judgment unless there is another medical professionals who can clearly state that the diagnosis should have been immediately determined. Thus, if there is even a slight chance that the diagnosis could have been missed by a reasonable medical professional, the case may not go past the courthouse steps. Therefore, if a patient experiences clear injuries due to the misdiagnosis that can be measured by other medical professionals, the case will be much stronger and easier to prove. And this is also why pain by itself is hard to prove if it is not coupled with an injury.

With that being said, if the patient feels like she did suffer damages due to medical malpractice, it is very important that she see another medical professional as soon as possible. In this case, the patient saw a medical professional within the same day which was the right thing to do. Next, the patient should check the yellow book for local attorneys who work in smaller firms. Even though bigger firms have more resources at their disposal, smaller firms will be able to give the client more personalized attention and better quality service. Since most medical malpractice cases are not taken on by attorneys, this aspect is important to make sure that the attorney really listens to the situation at hand and researches every possible alternative.

One last important aspect of medical malpractice is that most of these cases are taken on a contingency basis. This means that there is no up front fee for the representation if the case is taken on by the attorney. The reward for damages if any is then split between the attorney and the client based on a pre-determined percentage. In effect, representation is free and most medical malpractice attorneys have free consultations (clients should confirm this before meeting with a particular attorney).

So after going through all of these questions and steps, your family friend may indeed have a case but it all depends on what damages were suffered and whether a medical malpractice attorney thinks the case is good enough to win and take on at a contingency basis.