Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional fails to adhere to accepted standards within the medical profession and harm ensues to the patient. Most of the time this translates into a misdiagnosis or delayed treatment, a surgical error or a prescription error. But sometimes compensable harm can take place even when a doctor is otherwise doing everything right from a strictly medical point of view.
Understanding patient abandonment
When a relationship between a physician and their patient is terminated, dismissing their access to critical medical care, this is legally termed as abandonment. Though there are valid reasons as to why this might happen, patient abandonment should be avoided whenever possible. This mistake can lead to further injury or result in worsened medical conditions, negligence which falls in line with medical malpractice — a risky legal liability. Physicians in the New Haven, Connecticut area may be liable for one of two forms of this medical malpractice: intentional abandonment and inadvertent abandonment.
Liability in birth injury cases
If your child was born with some kind of preventable birth injury that was caused by a medical professional’s negligence, you may be looking to file a lawsuit for damages. But figuring out whom to sue or, more importantly, who will pay if you are successful, can be a rather difficult topic. In general, there are three different parities who could be held liable: the hospital, the doctor and the pharmaceutical company.
What if your loved one dies from a medical mistake?
It is natural and understandable to experience consequences of your own when a loved one suffers a serious injury or experiences an illness serious enough to require medical treatment. These consequences can be direct, such as losing the needed income of the family’s primary wage earner. Or they can be indirect, including the emotional distress you can go through from having to vicariously experience the same trauma as a family member does.
What is “informed consent”?
In Connecticut, patients may feel powerless when it comes to their doctor’s decisions. After all, doctors are trained in their field, so patients may feel like they should know exactly what they are doing. But when their doctor abuses their power over their patients, medical malpractice suits may follow. This is especially true if medical professionals perform treatments without getting permission to do so, or without receiving informed consent.
