When hospitals and doctors’ offices are overrun with patients and understaffed, it can be a situation ripe for medical malpractice. Overworked employees can become careless and negligent when they are pressed for time, but that is not an excuse for making harmful errors when treating patients. A Chicago medical malpractice attorney can help you figure out if you have a case of malpractice on your hands, and will also be the best resource for you if you plan on seeking compensation for negligent or harmful errors in treatment. What are some examples of medical malpractice as related to understaffed facilities?
Surgical Errors
If a hospital is very busy, staff can easily make a mistake when looking at a patient’s chart before an operation. It is absolutely important to check and double check the operation site for someone who is about to have a procedure done. For example, if a tumor is to be removed, it’s important to know where it needs to be removed from. Similarly, there have been cases in the past where patients have had the wrong limb or appendage amputated due to doctor or nurse carelessness. This is unacceptable and a medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago would absolutely be of benefit to have help you if this has happened to you or someone you care for.
Improper Treatment
Another case of malpractice that can be caused by overworked staff is the improper treatment of a patient. For example, if a nurse looks at a chart and administers medication or treatment to one patient when it should have been administered to the other patient in the hospital room, that can have serious consequences. Of course, these mistakes may be rare as the medical professionals working in high-traffic facilities are trained to cope with high-stress situations, but it is still something that can happen and should be pursued if it does. Contacting a Chicago medical malpractice attorney is the first step you should make if an error such as this happens to you.
Misdiagnosis
Finally, misdiagnosis can happen when there are too many patients and not enough medical staff. Instead of pursuing something that seems questionable (for example, a mole on someone who goes tanning a lot), these doctors may be in a hurry to get to the next patient or to their next appointment and may carelessly not advise the patient to seek a second opinion or see a specialist. Lab results may also get mixed up when someone is overworked, due to a simple mistake from being stressed out and too busy. In these instances, patients may be told they have diseases they do not have, while patients who do have those diseases may be told they are healthy. Any Chicago medical malpractice attorney can tell you that these types of cases happen all too frequently. If you find out that you’ve been improperly diagnosed, or that a doctor has missed a diagnosis and your health has worsened because of it, contact a medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago for help. They will be able to advise you on what to do next.
If you are seeking legal assistance with a Chicago medical malpractice attorney or top Illinois lawyer, visit our website to learn more about your options for legal representation. The lawyers at Malman Law concentrate on a variety of legal issues, including medical malpractice, personal injury, and workers compensation.
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