Chesapeake, Virginia medical malpractice attorney Rick Shapiro talks about surgical error medical negligence cases.
There are no guaranties about medical outcomes in any surgery or treatment provided to a patient. The question of whether there is medical malpractice is ultimately determined through evaluation by similar physicians or health care providers in the field at question. In other words, if you believe there was medical malpractice during an open heart surgery, a thoracic surgeon would give an opinion as to whether the actions of the surgeon who performed that surgery were appropriate.
Damages in misdiagnosis/missed diagnosis cases are often hard to prove with certainty because neither the judge, the jury nor the lawyers know what the future will hold for you or your loved one. Again, expert testimony will give the jury the best educated projection of quality of life and duration of life once the patient has been diagnosed with the cancer in question.
It is essential to obtain as complete a medical record of the treatment in question as soon as you can. You, as a patient or a family member, have the right to obtain from the hospital or doctor’s office the records addressing and involving the treatment in question.
If a patient signs a consent form prior to a medical procedure that resulted in medical injuries, can they still recover damages in a malpractice lawsuit?