Medical Malpractice - Bacterial Meningitis

Physicians are entrusted with the well-being of their patients. But sometimes even doctors make mistakes. These mistakes may sometimes be relatively minor. However there are times that they can be the cause of permanent injuries or even death. These medical mistakes are more commonly called medical malpractice.

The Institute of Medicine has said that medical malpractice is one of the top ten causes of death in the US.

Medical mistakes such as these, which can change lives for the worse and even result in death, are especially difficult for a parent to deal with when it happens to their child.

One of the most common forms of medical malpractice occurs when doctors fail to diagnose bacterial meningitis amongst children.

It is especially important that a doctor does not miss the signs of bacterial meningitis. That's because a delay in diagnosis can significantly reduce the chances that a person will survive.

However, if bacterial meningitis is detected early and aggressively treated it can be cured.

What is Meningitis?

Meningitis is the inflammation of the protective membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain. It could be caused by bacteria, viruses, other microorganisms, and on occasion by certain drugs.

Meningitis is classified as a medical emergency because the inflammation is so close to the brain and spinal cord that it can be life-threatening.

The kinds of bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis vary by the age of the victim. In newborns up to 3 months of age, and premature babies, the most common causes are group B streptococci. Children under five are often affected by Haemophilus influenza type B (in countries that do not offer the pneumococcal vaccine). Older children are usually affected by Streptococcus pneumonia and Neisseria meningitides.

Ten percent of the people who are afflicted with bacterial meningitis die. Many others suffer from permanent damages that include hearing loss, brain damage, and learning disabilities.

One of the main reasons that this can happen is because too many doctors do not properly diagnose and treat the condition. Doctors should, at the first sign of the disease, request a spinal tap in order to confirm their diagnosis. If they do not order a spinal tap it could result in their being liable for malpractice.

What are the Symptoms of Bacterial Meningitis?

The preliminary symptoms of meningitis include headache, a stiff neck and high fever. It may take only several hours or up to one to two days for these symptoms to develop.

Additional symptoms might include vomiting, nausea, discomfort when looking at bright lights, sleepiness, and confusion.

However headache, fever, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to detect in small infants.

Medical Malpractice Claims in Arizona

When you seek out medical advice and treatment, you trust that your doctors and other healthcare professionals are making the right decisions, using the right equipment and acting in the appropriate amount of time for your specific situation.

Unfortunately, physicians, surgeons, EMTs, nurses and other healthcare professionals can be negligent and fail to provide the care you need. Their negligence can cause life-altering personal injuries and even wrongful death. When this happens, you may want to discuss a claim for medical malpractice with an experienced attorney.

Examples of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can occur at any time during your interaction with a medical professional. Following are some of the most common types of facts underlying medical malpractice:

• Delaying treatment after diagnosing a medical condition.
• Failing to diagnose a medical condition, or misdiagnosing the condition.
• Failure to diagnose cancer in a timely manner.
• Not providing the right treatment for a medical condition.
• Errors made in prescribing and administering medication. In some of theses cases, physicians, nurses and even pharmacists can be held liable for the mistake that caused injury.
• Mistakes made before, during or after a surgical procedure.
• Mistakes during the administration of anesthesia, including failing to complete a thorough patient condition check for any possible complications from the anesthesia.
• Birth injuries from negligence on the part of the attending doctor or nurses, or the hospital, especially in the case of delaying a C-section.

Severe birth injuries include Erb's palsy, cerebral palsy and other types of traumatic brain damage.
• Failure to recognize complications during pregnancy and delivery of a child, including large baby syndrome and Rh-incompatibility.
• Inadequate treatment of a severe burn injury.
• Failure to provide necessary medical care to a nursing home patient.

Compensation for Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice lawsuits are notorious for being complicated, but the effort that goes into a personal injury lawsuit like this is worth it for patients who have been seriously injured, or who have suffered the loss of a loved one, due to medical negligence.

Texas Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you've got been the victim of medical malpractice, there are attorneys who focus on serving to you recover damages that you are entitled to as a results of the negligence. Texas medical malpractice lawyers can review your case during, what's often, a free consultation. Being injured can leave you with a feeling of depression and helplessness, especially if it's the fault of somebody else.

In order to file a medical malpractice claim, the victim should get a 2nd opinion from a professional physician. Common malpractice suits stem from incorrect operations and improper prescriptions or diagnosis. Texas medical malpractice lawyers will raise to determine medical reports, x-ray results and other data regarding any/all treatment that you have got undergone. The 2nd opinion, during this instance, would be for the aim of determining whether of not you have got been improperly treated by another physician. You'll possible would like another physician to verify your claim of medical negligence by another doctor or facility as this can help to strengthen your legal case.

Damages that Texas medical malpractice lawyers might seek embody lost wages if you have had to take time far from your work to recover, the price of medical bills and a reasonable total for pain and suffering. It can be easier to begin to arrive at a price of damages once your medical treatment has concluded. If, but, you may require medical treatment for the rest of your life, Texas medical malpractice lawyers can strive to barter arrangements for a lifetime compensation plan for future medical costs.

Once reviewing the data that you just give, Texas medical malpractice lawyers can begin settlement negotiations on your behalf. It is important to hunt legal recommendation quickly if you're feeling that you've got been a victim of medical malpractice. So as to assist defend your interests, Texas medical malpractice lawyers can build positive that your personal injury claim is filed during a timely manner. Each space has specific deadlines that has got to be met so as for a claim to be honored and, if this timeframe isn't met, all future compensation might be forever lost. The settlement process can be lengthy, so patience is essential at this point. A series of letters and phonephone calls will doubtless be exchanged before a suitable settlement can be reached. Once a settlement is approved, Texas medical malpractice lawyers will deduct their commission before providing you with the remaining sum. A retainer agreement can be signed between Texas medical malpractice lawyers and yourself, that will outline the fee schedule as it relates to any settlement or judgment. Within the event that a case is unable to be settled, it might proceed to trial. The trial method is lengthy and expensive, which is why cases are often settled out of court.

Medical Malpractice

Many people may not realize that medical malpractice is a real and ever growing problem. People die everyday from wrong diagnoses and incorrect treatments. The problem is that most of these cases are private and many are never reported. A lot of the population does not know enough about medical practices to know when they are faced with a malpractice problem. They are forced to take the word of the doctor and staff at hand. This may explain why only a small number of claims are filed for malpractice suits and only about half of them actually win the lawsuit.

Physicians have medical malpractice insurance that will cover them in the event someone files a malpractice claim against them. In the past the cost for this type of insurance was a flat rate, but due to the fact that medical malpractice suits are on the rise, the cost for this insurance has also begun to rise.

There are not as many providers for this type of insurance as it use to be. This is because medical costs are going up and it is very difficult to make a profit in this business.

Things that can be considered a medical malpractice would be failure to treat a medical problem correctly that causes a new medical problem or makes the existing one worse. If a physician fails to diagnose a disease, detects the problem to late to help the patient or fails to treat the condition correctly after it has been diagnosed it could be considered malpractice. If problems occur during the use of anesthesia or surgery that was due to the fault of the doctor or a member of the staff it could be malpractice. Also prescribing the wrong medication for a patient or medicine that interferes with other known conditions the patient may suffer from is also grounds for malpractice.

Medical malpractice suits are normally always expensive and very complicated.

You must be able to provide all of the necessary information to your attorney to have a chance of winning a lawsuit of this nature. This would be information such as a detailed list of the patient's medical history. This would include all doctors and hospitals or clinics that the patient has visited and all treatments that the patients received during this time, even if it seems unimportant. All medicines taken and prescribed must be recorded and a written description of all conversations that have taken place will be needed along with the dates everything took place. A medical expert will review the case and will ultimately be the one to decide if the suit is legitimate.