Understanding The Complexity of Medical Malpractice Cases

There are two possible answers here. The first one is rather quick – it’s because they utterly disrupt the faith we have in the medical institution- that’s taking care of the patient. The hospital or any other healthcare providing facility is designated and supposed to provide unquestionable and care to the extent of the highest industry standards. That’s what the patient relies on and when he doesn’t get it – the issues intensify tenfold. Read More

Information About Different Types Of Medical Malpractice Cases

As opposed to what the majority of people tend to believe, there are quite a few different cases of medical malpractice. There is a common misconception that medical malpractice cases are focused solely towards professionals engaged in hospitals. While they do formulate a major part of the total share, there are also other types of cases. Without any further ado, let’s jump right to it.

Hospital Malpractice

As we mentioned above, hospital malpractice cases formulate a significant part of all medical malpractice cases. This is because they occur at all hospitals across the province of Ontario. The majority of the patients are usually going to receive high-end care but there are those who suffer due to negligence on behalf of the medical experts at hospitals. There are different types of hospital malpractice like ER Malpractice, Cesarean section complications as well as surgical malpractice and many more. In any case, there is no shortage of complaints, that’s for sure.

Dental Malpractice

Orthodontists, dentists as well as endodontists are also subjected to the exact same medical malpractice regulatory provisions as all other hospital doctors. Regardless of whether they practice privately or as part of a hospital, they are required by law to exercise care above the average standard for the certain procedure which is particularly important.

Defective Products

This is a particular type of medical malpractice case. Even though it’s not directly related to negligence on behalf of the doctor, the victim does have a right to file a claim for the complications which derived from the usage of the defective products.

The worst thing about medical malpractice is that it is capable of inflicting tremendous emotional pain. The reason is quite simple – you are in a medical facility and you are expected to get better. Instead, not only you don’t, but your condition actually worsens dramatically. This is something that’s going to leave the patient with absolutely no trust in the medical service, which is definitely impactful.

At the same time, medical malpractice might be particularly devastating because it usually happens throughout a period during which the patient is already exhibiting deteriorating symptoms. This is one of the worst characteristics of these types of cases. However, regardless of the above, filing a claim is absolutely advisable if you are to receive the compensation that you are legally entitled to. The doctor is usually going to be covered by his malpractice insurance which means that you’d have to battle the legal team of a large insurance company. This is why you want to have proper representation and a lawyer with a lot of experience and a sturdy backbone. This is paramount to the eventual success of your case. You can get referrals to hire an injury lawyer who will be able to walk you through the complete process and represent your rights at the court of law.

Statute Of Limitation For Medical Malpractice Cases

Being involved in a medical malpractice lawsuit is without a doubt tremendously bothersome and quite overwhelming. However, there are things that you would need to take into account apart from the injuries and the burden of proving the integrity of your claims. This is the time frame within which you are entitled to actually file your claim. Missing those deadlines is particularly dangerous for your case and in certain situations the terms are preclusive which means that you wouldn’t be able to file for them.

The Regulated Health Professionals Act

As it is with everything, there is a certain piece of regulatory provision which is going to set forth the rules determining the time frame. When it comes to medical malpractice claims and the specifications around the terms, the Regulated Health Professionals Act is the one that you should be taking a look at.

Now, the truth is that there are quite a lot of different claims that you can bring forward and all of them have different terms ranging from 1 year to 3 years post-discovery. The important thing is that you should act as quickly as possible in order to ensure that your rights are protected in the best possible way. With this in mind, here is why you should take care of the terms.

You might end up deprived of your right to sue

Certain preclusive terms are going to preclude the right to seek compensation. This is only logical. The opposite party can’t go on living with the expectation that he might be slapped with a lawsuit any day and it’s only logical that the legislative authority precludes this tremendous burden with a certain time frame.

You might fail in the investigation

Medical malpractice cases are particularly complicated and they require a great deal of attention and considerations which are deriving from thorough legal investigations. If you fail to bring this to light ahead of time, your lawyer might not have the necessary amount of time to carry a proper and in-depth investigation.

Losing only certain rights

Some claims are consisted from more than one demand. Basically, there are claims within the claim. These are also precluded by certain time deadlines and you need to take this into account. That is why as soon as you find that there has been neglect or misdiagnosis, contact a personal injury lawyer so that they can handle your case professionally and look at all aspects that you may not know about.

So, don’t be surprised if you fail to get the compensation that you are legally entitled to if you don’t act responsibly and hire a lawyer in time. Keep in mind that the lawyer is going to take care of the majority of things and all you need to do is get in touch with him. Failing to do it on timesmay have some very undesirable consequences.

Assessing the Damages In Catastrophic Injury Claims

As you may guess by the sound of it, catastrophic injury claims are definitely the most serious claims that any personal injury lawyer is going to have to deal with throughout his career. As far as the characteristic “catastrophic” goes, it has a special meaning when it is regarded from a legal stand point. The lawyers refer to it as a term from an act which means that it’s of particularly special significance defined by the Insurance Act. If you manage to meet the requirements set forth in the description of the “catastrophic” term, you are going to be eligible for a greater amount of benefits. These include:

·         $1,000,000 in benefits for rehabilitation instead of just $50,000 or $3,500 as specified in the Minor Injury Guideline.

·         As much as $1,000,000 in benefits for attendant care as opposed to the $36,000 allowed for non-catastrophic claims

·         $100 per week for home maintenance and housekeeping as opposed to none for non-catastrophic claims

·         $250 per week for claims for caregiver as well as $50 for every single dependant as opposed to none for none-catastrophic injuries.

As you can see, the differences are absolutely dramatic and tremendous when it comes to it. However, as we mentioned above, you have to meet the description of “catastrophic” in order to be eligible for them. How do you do that?

In the first place, a licensed doctor has to fill out and submit the OCF-19 form. It bears the name Application for Determination of Catastrophic Impairment. Now, the entire procedure is extremely complicated and quite frankly, a lot of doctors wouldn’t be able to complete it, simply because they are widely uncomfortable with the terminology which is used in the OCF-19. So, if you are to go through it, you should most certainly arm yourself with quite a lot of patience as it’s going to take months to set up an appointment with a catastrophic determination professional and even more time to get the report done. Once the report is through and you submit it to your insurance company, it’s likely for them to take their sweet time for another month in order to go through the report and digest the information. Keep in mind that these reports often consist of 200 and more pages.

What is more, you can rest assured that the insurance company is almost always going to disagree with the report. Why? Well, because it is their job to do so. Of course, this shouldn’t discourage you and you should, by all means, pursuit the entire amount of your compensation, especially if you’ve been involved in a catastrophic car accident. However, the procedure could be rather tough.  However, it is good to have a legal expert handling your claim because they understand all aspects of the tort laws. Thus, work with an experienced lawyer that can evaluate your case and offer to work on contingency basis.

Are Medical Malpractice Claims Based on Misdiagnosis of Neck and Lumbar Pains?

Unfortunately, neck and back pain is amongst the most common reasons for which Canadians would seek medical treatment. Some of the studies show that 66% of the population experienced neck and back pain and this goes as far back as 1998. 80% of the adults experience back pain throughout their life.

The majority of the doctors aren’t really able to determine the exact cause for the pain. It’s usually self limiting which means that in the majority of cases it’s going to resolve itself. The most common treatment includes pain medication and then the patient would be sent to go home and get back if the pain gets worse. In the majority of the situations this is an appropriate approach.

However, the problem with this particular treatment is that neck or back pain could be symptomatic of other conditions and illnesses. With this in mind, if the doctor fails to take this into consideration, this could lead to potentially serious and devastating consequences.

The importance of a differential diagnosis

With this in mind, a differential diagnosis is a procedure which aims to identify any kind of serious or potentially life threatening conditions which could be ruled out or ruled in. The physician is going to go through the list and reach a final diagnosis based on the ones that are already ruled out and ruled in. There is, however, a specific process of elimination that has to be adhered to. The doctor has to create a list of all the potential injuries and conditions that could be causing these symptoms. They are all tested until the doctor comes with a final diagnosis by eliminating those who are irrelevant. The most commonly missed diagnosis when neck and back pain is involved is the CES or cauda equina syndrome. This is a potentially debilitating condition which is capable of causing paralysis when the nerve roots are compressed within the spinal cord. This is an emergency condition which requires urgent surgery in order for the doctors to prevent permanent disability.

Of course, there are other potential causes which are also frequently missed. These include fractured vertebrae, renal disease as well as some particular forms of lymphoma as well as bone cancer. With this in mind, it’s important to note that according to the CMPA the mistakes which lead to missed diagnosis can usually be traced back to the doctor’s inability to identify particular signs and relate them to the condition.

For instance, the presence of fever is symptomatic of infections. If it’s accompanied with neck and back pain this could be a sign of different spinal infections such as a spinal epidural abscess. Another thing that has to be taken into consideration is sudden or quick loss of weight. These two symptoms in combination could be indicative of a tumor or of a lymphoma. This is the main reason for which the SMPA has warned physicians to follow up on abnormal findings such as elevated white blood cell counts.

The truth is that a misdiagnosis of neck and back pain could potentially have devastating consequences. An example is given with a patient who came in with problems of the kind and got discharged with pain medication. He returned to the department two more times, reporting an increase in the pain. He also developed a fever and the numbness spread to his legs. Approximately 48 hours afterwards the patient was diagnosed with a spinal epidural abscess that became quadriplegic later on.

Protection against such medical malpractice

The first thing that you need to take into consideration is that you shouldn’t assume anything. You should make sure that the entire situation is carefully examined and that you are given the full physical as well as neurological examination. It’s going to take no more than 5 to 10 minutes and it’s going to cover your entire body. Make sure that you also pay attention to changes in your symptoms and if there is even the slightest alteration you should consider getting medical attention right away.