Medical Malpractice Delay
Doctors and nurses do not have x-ray vision. They can’t tell exactly what is wrong with you simply by looking.
What they do have at their disposal is the next best thing: actual X-ray machines, MRI’s, CAT-scans, and years of intensive training, during which they are taught to recognize telltale symptoms of illnesses and conditions in their patients.
But none of these will do a patient any good whatsoever if the doctor can’t be bothered to getting around to seeing them.
Death or permanent injury due to unnecessary delay of proper treatment can be medical malpractice, or also known as medical negligence. The idea that someone died or is condemned to spend the rest of his or her life with a severe and debilitating condition when they didn’t have to does not sit well with us, and it shouldn’t sit well with you either.
A delay in treatment occurs when a doctor or hospital does not treat a sick or injured person in a timely manner that is consistent with his or her injuries. Quite often, delays are the result of a failure to complete a necessary test, such as an X-ray or CAT scan, or it is a failure to initiate these tests at all. There have also been occasions where doctors or nurses misdiagnose symptoms and work under the assumption that the patient is suffering from a malady that isn’t dangerous or life-threatening. (We have a recent medical malpractice case under these circumstances. In this case, a young intern formed the correct diagnoses quickly, but because she was young and inexperienced, no one would listen to her. This refusal to investigate caused our client to be paralyzed).
In many medical cases, time is of the essence. It is the difference between a treatable condition and death. Something as simple and easily treatable as a burst appendix can be fatal to a patient if it isn’t caught in time. For many medical episodes like strokes or cancer, the clock is most certainly ticking, and delayed treatment could lead to death or irreversible physical harm.
There can also be problems with the chain of command in a hospital or other medical facility. For instance, a doctor might recommend an x-ray or a CAT scan, but he is probably unable to do such procedures himself. Instead, he has to send a request to a radiologist, who then has a technician do the scan or x-ray, which is then developed and scrutinized, and then a report is made, which is then sent back to the initial doctor. With this many people involved, the idea of something going wrong or something falling through the cracks is not inconceivable. This premise was proven to be unfortunately very true in Indiana , where a man died because the radiology department of a hospital failed to get a crucial x-ray back to his doctors. The x-ray, which showed that he had a critical blockage in his bowel, would have saved his life if it had been sent back in time. Instead, there was a one day delay, and as a result, the man died.
Another common cause of delay of treatment is, unfortunately, doctors and nurses who don’t sufficiently attend to their duties. Just last year, a woman in Frederick, Maryland received a record verdict of $4 million after she was made to wait in the lobby for three hours before a doctor saw her, even though she was obviously in need of medical treatment. As a result of this delay (which also was a direct violation of hospital policy regarding pregnant women,) her child was born with cerebral palsy.
A delay of treatment is essentially the equivalent of firemen who take the time to finish eating dinner when the alarm goes off, or a 911 operator who finishes a Sudoku puzzle before answering the call. There are plenty of times in life where time is not of the essence, but the medical profession is certainly not one of them.
In the 25 years that we have existed as a D.C. area law firm, Greenberg and Bederman has represented many victims of medical malpractice, and in that time we have fought vigorously for the rights of those who have been injured due to medical negligence.
John Sellingerhas dedicated the better part of his distinguished career to helping victims of medical malpractice, and has successfully handled hundreds of medical malpractice cases in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and that includes cases of medical negligence or delay of treatment.
If you or a loved one anywhere in the D.C. or Baltimore area has been injured due to any form of medical malpractice, contact Greenberg & Bederman for a free medical malpractice legal consultation today.
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