What to Look For in a Medical Malpractice Attorney

When do you need a medical malpractice attorney? Instances of medical malpractice continue to rise but the strange thing is that most people seem to just accept a mistake on the part of the doctor or hospital as being just one of those things. When damage or harm has been caused due to misdiagnosis, wrong medications given, or some other type of negligence, it would seem that people would take the situation more seriously.

Perhaps one of the problems is that it has become standard procedure in the US that before a patient undergoes a major treatment or surgery, they are required to sign a waiver form. This waiver allegedly protects the hospital's back side in case something goes wrong or does not turn out as expected. I say "allegedly" because that document does not relieve the doctor or hospital of acts of negligence that cause harm, damage, or even death to the patient.

Are medical professionals not allowed to make mistakes? In a word, no, not when it comes to making decisions where their action or inaction causes damage or even death to a patient. If you buy an airline ticket from New York to Houston and the plane lands in Minneapolis because of navigation errors that the pilot made, is that acceptable to you? Of course not because you hold the pilot responsible for getting you to where your ticket says you are going to end up. In the same way, you hold the doctor and hospital responsible for administering the standard of professional care that is required for a patient, and when that level of trust for that care is violated due to negligence or errors on the part of the doctor or hospital, you have rights.

When seeking the services of a medical malpractice attorney, choosing the appropriate legal counsel is much more than just thumbing through the yellow pages. Remember, this attorney is going to be working on your behalf to get the best settlement possible based on the circumstances, so you should spend some time to interview each potential attorney that you may consider. How long have they been working with medical malpractice suits? What is their track record of successful outcomes? Are they intimately familiar with malpractice law, both at the federal level as well as how those laws apply in your state?

Do not be concerned about the fees that a medical malpractice attorney may charge. It is common practice for the lawyer to take a defined percentage of the settlement amount, and if there is no settlement, meaning the lawyer failed to win your case, then there is no payment due.

You have rights, and if you or a family member has been harmed due to negligence, in action, misdiagnosis or other types of errors, it is clearly time to find a medical malpractice attorney where you can discuss your particular situation and determine if this is something that should be taken forward. While a settlement will not right the wrongs that happened, it can make it easier for you to move forward for your future.

Do not be satisfied with simply being a victim and doing nothing about it when you have rights you can exercise. For more insights and additional information about a Medical Malpractice Attorney as well as finding a wealth of information to help you select the right medical malpractice attorney, please visit our web site at http://www.malpracticeinfonow.com

What Diseases Are Typically Associated With Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice attorneys work with individuals who are injured due to negligence, misdiagnosis, and the like, on the part of a doctor or other medical professional. Though these lawsuits allege circumstances resulting in personal injuries to the patient, it's important to note that not all errors on the part of medical professionals and misdiagnosis result in malpractice cases. The lack of a desired outcome in medical care is essentially an intrinsic factor in the practice of medicine. However, malpractice attorneys become involved when:

The patient believes he or she has suffered significant injury.
The facility or medical practitioner did not provide medical care to the patient within the standard of care expected from a professional.
The negligence, lack of care, or medical mistake directly resulted in harm or injury to the patient.

The top five diseases that result in patients obtaining monetary compensation for malpractice suits are:

• Breast Cancer


• Lung Cancer


• Colon Cancer/Rectal Cancer


• Heart Attacks


• Appendicitis

Often times, the allegations in a medical malpractice case are from misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to promptly perform diagnostic testing. The delay of diagnosis or testing can result in the patient's complications worsening and sometimes death. Because the end result of a misdiagnosis of breast cancer, lung cancer, colon/rectal cancer, heart attacks, and appendicitis is so severe, resulting legal cases occur and large monetary settlements can be reached.

Breast Cancer: Most cases regarding the misdiagnosis of breast cancer result from medical misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. In many cases, the severity of the breast lump or symptom are not accounted for or perhaps underestimated. Often times, cancerous tissue is seen as benign or part of a fibrocystic condition, as this is far more typical then breast cancer. If a doctor or medical professional misdiagnoses breast cancer, the condition may worsen over time and become increasingly difficult to cure.

Lung Cancer: Lung cancer is similar to breast cancer in that if misdiagnosed or given a delayed diagnosis, it can become difficult to treat and sometimes result in patient death.

Colon Cancer/Rectal Cancer: Typical colon cancer cases result from misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, resulting in a poorer patient outcome. In cases of colon cancer/rectal cancer misdiagnosis, diagnostic methods either do not discover cancer or do but fail to diagnose or report the cases. Sometimes cases may go unnoticed, often assumed to be IBS or "Irritable Bowel Syndrome".

Heart Attacks: Despite their frequency, heart attacks can be misdiagnosed by medical providers and assumed to be heartburn, acid reflux, or stomach pain. Often times, a misdiagnosis can result from less common circumstances: if a patient isn't experiencing intense chest pain or they're female and younger, the heart attack will go unnoticed. The delayed diagnosis can result in severe consequences to the patient's health.

Appendicitis: Appendicitis is particularly difficult to diagnose in the emergency room because there are many other factors that cause abdominal pain. If overlooked, the consequences can be severe. Often time infants or very young children suffer from appendicitis and then suffer tragic outcomes because they are not diagnosed.

Erica Ronchetti is a free lancer writer & editor."What Diseases Are Typically Associated With Medical Malpractice?" defines that Malpractice Attorneys play a role in helping patients obtain fair compensation for their medical malpractice injuries or losses.Learn more information by visiting our website and what Kreithen, Baron, and Carpey Malpractice Attorneys can do for you.

Failure to Diagnose - A Commonly Seen Form of Medical Malpractice

In the United States, failure to diagnose any illness or medical condition is a type of medical malpractice that is commonly seen. There can be devastating consequences for a patient when a doctor fails to diagnose and provides treatment is a timely manner. To know how many people have died because of a misdiagnosis is hard to do however every year tens of thousands of Americans die because of medical mistakes that could have been prevented.

Did Your Doctor Fail to Diagnose Cancer?

There can be a delay in treatment, the wrong treatment given or none at all if cancer is misdiagnosed. Cancer is an illness that needs to be treated early because any delays can cause damage that cannot be reversed. Unfortunately, there are cases when treatment is give when an individual does not have an illness. Even these cases can cause irreversible damage.

Commonly seen cancers that resulted in a wrongly diagnose case include:

• Breast


• Colon


• Cervical


• Lung


• Prostate

If you have suffered damages because your doctor failed to diagnose your cancer or you were mistakenly diagnosed with cancer, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact a professional attorney for a free evaluation.

Other Types of Diagnosis the is often Wrong

Cancer is not the only condition that is often involved in missed diagnose cases. Others include:

• Heart attacks


• Stroke


• Diabetes


• Meningitis


• Blood clots


• Others

Some factors that may cause a doctor to be involved in a mistaken diagnosis are:

• Not listening to the patient


• Not recognizing symptoms


• Misinterpreting symptoms


• Failing to perform required tests


• Misinterpreting lab results

Physicians can be held legally accountable if their negligence harms their patient.

Patient Rights for Diagnosis Malpractice

If you were a victim of a negligent in diagnosis, you have some legal rights and may be able to recover some compensation from medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of earning capability and more. Contact a professional attorney to find out if you are eligible to some compensation. Contact a medical malpractice attorney for a free evaluation.

Statutes of limitations do apply in these types of cases so it is important to file a claim within these time limits. These time restraints vary in every state however, it is usually one to three years from the time of the injury. Your malpractice attorney is aware of these laws and they will work in a timely fashion to get your claim heard. Contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible and they will advise you of your legal options.

David Austin is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases. You can learn more about Failure to Diagnose at his website. http://www.Burke-Eisner.com

Malpractice Attorney Shawn Bugbee confession

Atlanta lawyer admits extreme legal malpractice. It agrees with the ~ $ 14,000 in fees paid are refunded to him. Of course he has never returned, instead of the charges and accuse him beats me. The State Bar notes that he committed malpractice and punishes him by a "secret link"! This should protect the public!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpgrhTFtiww&hl=en

Lawsuits From Unseen Patients

There is only one thing worse that receiving notice of a medical malpractice claim being filed against you - being served a claim when you never saw or treated the patient!

You can thank history for this anomaly. The basis of vicarious liability dates back to the feudal times of "masters and servants". It basically holds the "master" liable for the actions of the "servants". It is similar to the "deep pocket" strategy of attorneys. Since the servant seldom had the capability to compensate the victim, the master's pockets were deeper and better able to provide compensation.

There are numerous occasions where this principle of vicarious liability can come into play:

• You could be held liable for the actions of an employee within your organization.


• You could be held liable for the actions of a contractual partner within your practice or group.


• You could be held liable for the actions of an ostensible partner - a situation where there is no written contract, but the relationship is perceived to be a partnership.


• You could be held liable for the actions of a medical provider that simply rents space within your facility.

This concept of vicarious liability also extends beyond medical malpractice. As an employer, you could find yourself liable for the actions of one co-worker against another. If an employee is injured by another employee, the employer could be held vicariously responsible for the co-worker's actions, rather than the co-worker directly.

Another unseen patient situation could arise from an informal consult. A simple discussion with another doctor over lunch about the treatment of patient could be considered an informal consult. In a malpractice lawsuit, such informal consults are treated equally with formal consults. Even such casual conversations, likely to surface during discovery motions by a plaintiff's attorney, can create a doctor-patient relationship and duty to the patient.

Claims resulting from unseen patients are not that unusual. And they are not limited to vicarious liability and informal consults. Consider the treatment of your patients for dangerous communicable diseases. If a patient under your treatment infects an unknown person, they could sue you and win - if you fail to advise and counsel your patient on the seriousness of their condition and how to avoid infecting others. As one California court stated, "Such precautions are not taken to protect the health of the patient, whose well-being has already been compromised, such precautions are taken to safeguard the health of others."

At this point in the article, I should remind the readers that I am not an attorney and am not providing legal advice. The information is primarily based on my experiences within the realm of medical malpractice liability insurance.

That being said, there are some common-sense guidelines to help protect yourself from lawsuits of this nature:

• Maintain, and periodically update, your practice's Policies & Procedures Manual, as well as your Employee Manual.


• Maintain detailed records on all formal and informal education undertaken by members of your practice, group, clinic or hospital.


• Maintain detailed employee records of all disciplinary warnings and resolutions.


• Exercise due diligence in hiring employees and entering into real or ostensible partnerships. Think of yourself as an underwriter determining the level of risk.


• Exercise similar due diligence in renting space to another provider within your facility.


• Conduct regular, full-staff meetings to reinforce behavioral patterns and operational procedures within your organization.


• Be wary of any informal or casual conversations about another physician's patient.


• Document and keep a file on all such casual conversations in the same manner you would document a patient visit.


• Issue specific guidelines related to the treatment of patients with dangerous communicable diseases, follow such guidelines to the letter, and document them in the patient file.

The threat and scope of potential litigation against doctors is growing. From the reality of today's economic turmoil to the loss of health insurance by hundreds of thousands of individuals and the growing utilization of non-physician professionals, lawyers are looking at the medical industry as fertile ground for lawsuits. Therefore it is critical that every organization audit and assess its operations from the viewpoint of the patients - both those you see and those you may not see.

J Michael Rosenthal, ARM - President and CEO, RGI Insurance Services

Mike Rosenthal is an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and CEO of RGI Insurance Services. RGI Insurance Services provides all types of insurance for doctors and medical groups such as medical malpractice, workers compensation and group benefits as well as risk management services, human resource services and OSHA compliance services.

Secrets Lawyers Want to Keep From You When Committing Legal Malpractice

    Unfortunately a small percentage of any type of profession whether legal, medical or otherwise commit professional malpractice. So what secrets does your attorney want to conceal from you while committing professional negligence.

            Missing Deadlines - A negligent attorney will either not have a proper calendaring system or will procrastinate until the last minute and may frequently miss a statute of limitations or filing deadline. Calendaring errors are one of the leading causes of attorney malpractice claims. A negligent lawyer may try and keep this information from you or provide you with misinformation regarding these issues. It is important that when you interview a lawyer you get detailed information about how the attorney's office monitors all calendaring activities and whether or not they have had prior claims of attorney malpractice and the outcome of each case.

            Lack of Competence or Experience - An overly zealous attorney may agree to take a case where there is a potential of a large fee without possessing the necessary knowledge or experience. Make sure that before you hire an attorney that you conduct a thorough interview and determine how many cases like yours the attorney has handled and what type of a result the lawyer obtained in each case.

            Taking on Too Many Cases - An attorney who has a workload that they currently cannot manage is a recipe for a malpractice action. Does your attorney return your calls, are tasks done on a timely basis, is follow up done and reported to you, are you satisfied with the communications from your attorney. If you are constantly dissatisfied with the services your lawyer is providing to you it might be time to look for another lawyer. 

            If you feel your attorney has committed malpractice in the handling of your claim you need to speak with an experienced lawyer immediately.

Attorney Richard Hastings, for the past two and one half decades, has been helping injured clients and families collect millions of dollars in cases ranging from motor vehicle accidents to wrongful death, to medical malpractice. He is the founder of Selectcounsel, LLC, a free service that helps you find one of the best lawyers in your area and is the author of the books "How To Find A Great Lawyer" and "Understanding And Improving The Value Of Your Personal Injury Case."

Selectcounsel, LLC is a FREE national service that helps people with serious personal injury and medical malpractice cases find one of the best lawyers in their area to represent them. The lawyers we recommend are independently rated by attorneys and judges as being among the very best in their field of practice. Visit us at http://selectcounsel.com/ to see how we can help you find one of the best lawyers for your case.

The Issues Involved With Making a Medical Malpractice Claim

The issues involved with making a medical malpractice claim.

It's a subject no one ever wants to consider when thinking about our healthcare. We put our lives and wellbeing in the hands of medical staff everyday and we rely on getting the very best treatment during illness or an emergency. Our trust is based on the lengthy education process that our doctors and nurses have to go through, and we're confident that staff are properly qualified and able before they ever start treating patients. But everybody is capable of making mistakes and there are a thousand reasons why something could go wrong with treatment or unexpected complications occur as a result of mistakes made by a medical team or institution; and just because some wrong was done to you unintentionally doesn't necessarily make the reality of the consequences any easier to deal with.

There has been a lot of coverage in the press recently about the state of Britain's NHS, particularly regarding the cleanliness and performance of hospitals. We're dealing with the, often overwhelming, problem of containing the MRSA virus, which spreads around hospitals due to poor hygiene practises and can vary in degrees of seriousness ranging from a mild illness to causing death in particularly vulnerable patients. And of course, our latest viral crisis is the swine flu has also been making the news in relation to poor service and cleanliness in our hospitals. The unfortunate truth is that many people claim that they or their loved ones were affected by diseases such as these as a direct result of negligence or incompetence on the part of hospitals or medical teams.

We all understand the pressure put on our NHS by outbreaks such as these but it isn't always an acceptable excuse for the poor standards some hospitals struggle to maintain.

So when does an issue go from being an individual or institution under strain, to being their direct responsibility?

The basic definition of medical malpractice is when a care provider fails to fulfil their duty to you as a patient resulting in injury or illness to you. Whenever this duty is breached it becomes a malpractice issue.

The situations and reasons for wanting to make a claim vary widely and unfortunately could be something serious and life changing. The negligence of another may have resulted in the death of a loved one, for example, or procedures used in the birth of a child may have resulted in serious birth defects. In either situation you might wish to make a claim not merely to fight for justice but for financial compensation. The extra care a child might need throughout their lives could be expensive, or the death of a spouse might leave you struggling financially as well as emotionally.

Whatever your reasons, pursuing your claim could mean a huge difference to your life and wellbeing. It might not be an easy fight; it could be very demanding and difficult for you emotionally and daunting facing a professional body to accuse them of negligence. You will need to prove that whoever was involved failed in their duty to you, that they were directly responsible for your situation. You may need to gather evidence and possibly witnesses to back up your accusation.

You shouldn't worry about the implications of your accusation. As long as you are genuine and are telling the truth as it happened then the responsibility lies with whoever you feel was negligent. Medical staff are required by law to hold up to date Professional Liability Insurance which will them cover their defence but, ultimately, if they were indeed at fault, then they must accept the consequences.

If you are serious about claiming you should speak to a professional like Accident Consult They will go through your case with you and review the details, then work with you to get you the very best results.

If you are serious about claiming you should speak to a professional like Accident Consult. They will go through your case with you and review the details, then work with you to get you the very best results.

Protecting Yourself From Legal Malpractice

If we have had the misfortune of meeting the wrong lawyer, most of do not attempt to take action against the lawyer because we feel that the lawyer is above the reach of law. However, that is a misconception. Lawyers can be held accountable for legal malpractices.

The United States and many countries across the globe have introduced laws that hold legal professionals accountable for their actions. This means that the lawyer has to behave in a professional, responsible and ethical manner. For some reason if you come to realize that the lawyer you hired is not trustworthy or ethical, you have every right to protect yourself from legal malpractice.

You can sue a lawyer for legal malpractice. Legal malpractice is when your lawyer misrepresents you, is negligent, overbills you for services rendered, and breaches his fiduciary duties or his agreement with you.

In order to sue a lawyer for legal malpractice, you would have to act very quickly. The best way to go about it is to approach the State Bar Association. The Bar will be able to give you an idea about the statute of limitation and will be able to refer a lawyer who can take up the legal malpractice case on your behalf.

Before you rush to sue your lawyer, do remember that suing him will be an extremely expensive affair. It would be in your best interests to resolve the dispute with the lawyer before the case reaches the court.

It is an unfortunate situation when one has to sue a lawyer for legal malpractice. Lawyers are meant to be guardians of law and are there to protect a common man's rights. However, there have been instances when lawyers have conveniently forgotten this and resorted to unethical ways and misrepresentation of their clients.

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