As a society, we put a lot of faith in our medical professionals. We trust them to identify our symptoms, diagnose us, and then heal us through treatment. However, even the best doctors make mistakes. Mistakes made in the medical field can cause needless pain, suffering, and sometimes an untimely death. According to one John Hopkins study, there are over 250,000 annual deaths related to a medical error. This figure makes medical errors the third leading cause of death in the country, trailing only heart and respiratory disease.
Treatment Errors
There are many different ways that an error in treatment can take place. A few of the more common scenarios include:
- The condition falls outside the doctor’s scope of practice and they fail to refer the patient to a specialist who can better help them.
- Signs of an illness are missed, causing a delay in treatment. Depending on the illness, delaying treatment can create a more serious health problem.
- A patient is misdiagnosed, causing incorrect treatments to be ordered. The treatments are either ineffective or harmful to the patient.
What Isn’t Malpractice
It’s important to keep in mind that not every bad medical outcome can be considered malpractice. In order to win a case, the injured party will need to prove that the level of treatment they received fell below the ‘standard of care.’ Falling below standard means that the medical professional failed to take actions which another reasonably careful physician would have in the same position. Our medical malpractice attorney in Halifax can help build this case by presenting the evidence of your case and enlisting expert opinions.
Filing for Malpractice in the State of Virginia
Virginia is one of the minority states which abide by the “date-of-the-act” rule. This means that the individual who was injured by medical error must file their suit within two (2) years. In some states, the date is set based on when the medical error was discovered (or should have been reasonably discovered). Because of the tight time frame, it’s important to get in touch with a personal injury attorney in Halifax as soon as possible.
Personal Injury and Social Security Disability in Halifax
The Joel Cunningham Law Firm is geared towards helping people get the legal support they need to address their medical problems. We provide clients with aggressive representation in personal injury lawsuits of all kinds, as well as support through the system of Social Security disability in Halifax. Contact us to discuss your legal options with a trained attorney.