Most family doctors are caring professionals, competent to examine patients and treat common medical conditions. Everyone is capable of making mistakes, and when physicians are overworked, careless or simply exercise poor judgment, serious illness, and even death can result.
Contact us to speak to a Charlotte medical malpractice attorney about your situation.
Among the most serious mistakes a primary care physician can make is failing to refer a patient to a specialist when appropriate. Whether the physician believes he or she is competent to treat the condition or for some other reason fails to refer, the best possible care for any particular illness should be extended care. This generally involves treatment by a specialist in that field.
Failing to diagnose a disease such as cancer delays treatment. Especially with a progressive and deadly disease, this constitutes malpractice.
“Care” implies diligence and erring on the side of safety. If heart failure is misdiagnosed as indigestion, the patient may die for lack of appropriate treatment. Care also requires ordering tests to rule out or identify problems, carefully reviewing the test results, monitoring the condition, treating any infections and prescribing appropriate medication.
A patient’s medical history should be gathered. Common conditions such as heart disease and cancer in the patient’s family should be noted. Respect for the patient requires that the dangers and risks of any procedure should be communicated to him or her.
As with virtually all medical malpractice cases, the standard to which a medical professional is held includes:
If you or someone you love has suffered aggravated illness due to malpractice by a primary care physician, reach out to a Charlotte medical malpractice attorney at Elam & Rousseaux, PLLC. We are here to help you get fair compensation for your suffering. Call 704-343-0000 now to schedule a free consultation.
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