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Medical Malpractice or Just Bad Luck?

Updated May 2, 2022 | By Wilson Kehoe Winingham staff

When you have an illness, condition or injury, you will probably see a doctor for treatment. If it’s life threatening or otherwise serious, you may go to the hospital. The object, of course, is to get better. But what if you don’t? How can you tell if your worsening condition is merely unfortunate, or the result of negligent care?

It’s not always easy to tell, which is why most experienced medical malpractice attorneys rely on medical experts to help determine whether your physician breached their duty of care.

Possibly Medical Malpractice

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have a duty to their patients to provide the level of care that any competent, similarly-trained practitioner would give in the same situation. When a medical caregiver fails to do so, the patient may have a strong medical malpractice case.

For example, if a patient wakes from surgery and finds they are unexpectedly paralyzed, most competent surgeons would order an immediate X-ray or other diagnostic procedures to determine the problem. In a recent case of ours, the surgeon waited several days to order X-rays—a clear breach of the doctor’s duty of care to our client.

Probably Not Malpractice

Some illnesses are not treatable. If a doctor correctly diagnoses you and current medical technology simply has no effective cure or treatment, that’s unfortunate, but unavoidable. The key to a malpractice case is whether the physician has provided adequate care.

Similarly, if a patient’s condition worsens while under appropriate care, there’s not likely to be a strong case for medical malpractice.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of negligent medical care, contact the Indianapolis Medical Malpractice Attorneys of Wilson Kehoe Winingham. The lawyers and nurse consultants at WKW can help you determine whether negligent medical care caused your injury or condition. Call 317.920.6400 or fill out an online contact form for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.

Contact Us

Let WKW put our experience to work for you. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

 

Or, call us today at (317) 920-6400

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