Halifax Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

Hospital Infections Widespread Problem

Infections acquired while getting healthcare for an unrelated condition is becoming a common, and dangerous, problem in hospitals across North America.

MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) has been in the news a lot. MRSA is a potential deadly infection caused by bacteria that has become resistant to most antibiotics. For example take a look at this news story.

Recent medical studies show that many healthcare providers do not follow proper sanitary procedures designed to reduce infection when treating patients.

However, because hospitals are full of sick people, they are also full of bacteria and viruses. Therefore, it is very difficult to prove that the virus or bacteria that infected you, or your loved one, was the result of the negligence of your doctor or hospital personnel or simply the result of being exposed to bacteria or virus in the hospital environment.

In order to determine if the infection that you or your loved one acquired was a result of medical malpractice we need to conduct an investigation to answer a number of questions:

What was the medical condition that you were being treated for?

What was the bacteria or virus with which you were you were infected?

Was their an actual mistake which led to the infection?

A careful examination of the facts and medical records as well as a medical opinion from an epidemiologist will help determine if your hospital acquired infection was a result of medical malpractice.

Continue reading " Hospital Acquired Infections: Is it Medical Malpractice? " »

"What's the difference between Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose?"

The majority of medical malpractice claims that I am asked to review involve either a misdiagnosis of a medical condition (recognizing the symptoms but getting the diagnosis wrong) or the failure to diagnose a medical condition (not recognizing that there is a medical problem that requires treatment).

Making a mistake may not be malpractice

Just because the doctor that treated you made a mistake in diagnosing your illness, or failed to diagnose your illness at all, does not necessarily mean that you have a medical malpractice claim.

"How do I know when misdiagnosis is malpractice?"

There are a number of questions that need to be answered in order to determine whether a misdiagnosis (or failure to diagnose) actually led to medical malpractice:

What were you symptoms that you described to your doctor?

What was the misdiagnosis (wrong diagnosis)?

What was the correct diagnosis?

Who eventually gave you the right diagnosis?

How long did it take before you received the correct diagnosis?

How long did it take before you received proper treatment? (For example, was it weeks, months, or years?)

If your doctor doesn’t properly diagnose your symptoms, but another doctor discovers the problem shortly afterwards, you may have difficulty proving that a delay of a few days or weeks or even months made a difference in the outcome of your illness.

Long delays may not matter

There are some medical conditions where even a long delay in diagnosis has little effect on the outcome (or prognosis) of the patient’s treatment. For example, some types of cancer (pancreatic) have such a bad prognosis (outcome) that there is little that can be done no matter how much time you have to seek treatment.

On the other hand, some types of cancer grow so slowly that even a long delay in diagnosis will not affect the eventual outcome of the illness. For example, prostate cancer grows very slowly. The majority of men over the age of 50 have some early signs of prostate cancer. But prostate cancer usually grows so slowly that other types of illnesses (or old age) cause the patient’s death long before the prostate cancer.

But even short delays can be critical

On the other hand, there are some types of medical conditions that are so serious that a delay of hours or even minutes can make the difference between whether the patient will have a favorable outcome or be left totally and permanently disabled. For example, subdural hematomas (bleeding on the brain) or epidural abscesses (a lesion on the spinal cord) are medical emergencies where a delay of hours can be deadly.

Every case is different

The simple fact is that just because your doctor may have made a mistake in diagnosing your illness, or may have delayed in coming up with the proper diagnosis, does not mean that you have the grounds for successful medical malpractice claim.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that your medical malpractice claim will depend on the specific facts in your case. If you think you or a family member have been the victim of medical malpractice, you should get the advice of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible.

Continue reading " Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose in Medical Malpractice Claims " »

When I am asked to review a possible claim for a client wondering if they have been a victim of medical malpractice, it often takes months of investigation and requires reviewing hundreds of pages of medical records and reports. In many cases I have to get a medical expert to provide a medical-legal opinion on the issue of standard of care or causation.

However, there is a way for you to figure out for yourself if you have medical malpractice claim that is worth talking to a lawyer about to see if you may have a claim.

Two Simple Questions:

There are two questions that you need to ask yourself. If there is a clear cut answer to both questions, then you may have a medical malpractice claim that is worth pursuing.

The first question you need to ask yourself is:

“What did my doctor (nurse or health care professional) do or fail to do that was careless?”

If there is no clear answer to this question, or if there was a series of problems or errors that led to your injury, or if you are not exactly sure what caused the problem that you are concerned about, your medical malpractice claim may be difficult to prove

The second question you need to ask yourself is:

“If the medical malpractice had not happened, how would things be different for me now and in the future?”

In order to be entitled to receive compensation you must be able to clearly establish that you suffered an injury as a result of your doctor’s (or health care provider) negligence. If your doctor was negligent, but you did not suffer any injury, then you probably don’t have a claim that is worth pursuing.

For example, if you received the wrong medication and spent months worrying about it, but suffered no ill effects, than you probably don’t have a claim that is worth pursuing.

In other words, unless you can clearly explain to a judge or a jury what the injury is and how it is going to affect your life then it might be difficult for you to receive enough compensation to make it worth the expense of a complex medical malpractice trial.

I go into more detail on these questions and a number of other issues that you need to be aware of in my book: The Consumers Guide to Medical Malpractice Claims in Canada: Why 98% of Canadian Medical Malpractice Victims Never Get a Penny in Compensation. You can get a free copy of the book by contacting me through this blog or by calling my office at (902) 423-2050.