Would You Even Know If You Were A Victim Of Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice in many ways is very different from all the other forms of personal injury law. That’s because unlike other accidents, you may not immediately know whether or not you’ve been a victim of malpractice, whereas you clearly know whether or not you’ve had a fall, or sustained a dog bite or been in a car accident, as some examples.

What makes it even harder to tell, is that not every bad medical outcome equates to medical malpractice. You can not get better and it may not be because of medical malpractice.

That can lead people to wonder whether or not they’re victims, and sadly, many people don’t get to an attorney to ask that question until it’s too late.

So how do you know, or when should you suspect, that you’ve been a victim of malpractice?

Unexpected Complications

Yes, many medical procedures or processes have complications. But most of those are expected complications–that is, doctors know and often will warn you what a potential complication of a given procedure might be.

If you have a totally unexpected complication, that could be an indication of medical malpractice, especially when the complication seems totally unrelated to the medical procedure.

So, for example, if you had knee surgery and shortly after developed searing abdominal pain, or you have physical therapy and then end up with a severe fever and infection–these aren’t common after-effects or complications of these kinds of procedures.

Getting Confusing Answers or Being Brushed Off

When something is wrong, you will, hopefully, ask questions. What kind of answers are you getting?

If the answers seem evasive or vague–or they don’t believe you when you tell them what’s wrong, or they keep putting you off (for example, “see if you feel better in another week”)–that could be a sign something went wrong.

In some cases, the doctors may have no answer for you at all; they may seem puzzled over why you’re experiencing what you’re experiencing.

You’re Getting Worse or Not Improving

Not every medical procedure guarantees improvements and results. But if you don’t see any improvement at all within a period of time your doctor told you to expect improvement, that could be a sign that something went wrong.

That’s especially important for things that can get worse over time, if untreated–as a tear spreads, or infection spreads, or a bleed internally continues–pain will get worse, not better.

What Do You Suspect?

This may not seem very scientific, but trust your gut.

People tend to know when something went wrong, or when a procedure wasn’t done correctly, or when non-improvement is something to be concerned about.

If you’re truly unsure, you can certainly seek out a second opinion–although remember time limits to file medical malpractice cases are short, so don’t wait too long, if you’re thinking of seeing a medical malpractice attorney about a medical error.

Contact our Rhode Island personal injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 for help.