Patients trust their doctors to not only diagnose but to properly treat their medical conditions.
For various reasons, however, physicians and hospitals may fail to provide the treatment that patients need. In cases like this, it’s important to understand South Carolina medical malpractice law and whether the patient can pursue a claim. Working with a knowledgeable Columbia, SC medical malpractice attorney can help you present the strongest possible case for the maximum amount of damages. Count on Rikard & Protopapas to serve you.
Understanding Failure to Treat
Diagnosing a disease, illness, or injury is just part of what everyone reasonably expects from their healthcare providers. Once the issue has been identified, we anticipate that it will be properly treated. However, there are cases in which the correct treatment is never delivered to the patient. This can not only further aggravate the underlying condition but can lead to additional complications as well.
When there is a failure to provide care, either at the hands of an individual (e.g. doctor) or a facility, the patient can be seriously harmed. What might have been a treatable condition deteriorates into something worse. This is to say nothing of the pain and suffering, plus fear and anxiety, that the patient experiences. In the worst-case scenario, the patient dies from the failure to treat. Medical malpractice may then be the underlying cause, allowing the victim or the victim’s family to demand monetary compensation.
Legal Standards for Medical Malpractice in South Carolina
Many patients incorrectly believe that any mistake made by a medical professional amounts to malpractice. However, malpractice is not simply committing an error. The law recognizes that doctors, nurses, and other members of the medical profession are human, and the courts therefore do not expect them to be perfect.
Malpractice occurs when the mistake is unreasonable in light of the circumstances. Put another way, medical professionals are required to adhere to a standard of care and can be held liable for malpractice when they negligently fail to do so. Determining whether the error may be considered malpractice requires evidence and a case-by-case evaluation.
Because the definition of malpractice can be somewhat obscure to the average patient, it is important that you speak with a knowledgeable attorney about any mistake your doctor has made. Let your attorney review the situation and advise you as to whether the mistake rises to the level of medical malpractice.
Examples of Negligent Failure to Treat Medical Conditions
Failure to provide care can come in many forms, and it includes:
- Failing to diagnose the symptoms presented by the patient
- An unreasonable delay in diagnosis, for instance, asking the patient to come back later when diagnostic tests and lab work should have been ordered instead
- Any unreasonable delay in treatment that causes a disease or condition to unnecessarily worsen
- Providing an inaccurate diagnosis, which will presumably lead to the wrong treatment
- Advising the patient to take a course of treatment that is improper, unnecessary, ineffective, or even dangerous
- Failing to obtain informed consent to a treatment by fully advising the patient of known risks
- Failing to refer the patient to a specialist
- Refusing to treat a patient due to lack of insurance
Can You Sue a Hospital for Not Treating You Correctly?
You can sue a hospital, clinic, and/or an individual healthcare professional for failure to treat if you meet the necessary legal standards of a medical malpractice case. Working with a skilled attorney, you will need to demonstrate these elements of South Carolina medical malpractice:
- Duty of care: The hospital or doctor must have owed you a duty of care, which means a duty to take reasonable measures to keep the patient from harm. The existence of a doctor-patient relationship is typically sufficient to satisfy this requirement.
- Breach: A breach occurs when the doctor or hospital unreasonably fails to abide by the standard of care. The examples given above related to failure to care may be enough to prove this element.
- Causation: It must be shown that the breach itself caused injury to the patient. For instance, the victim would have to demonstrate that an unreasonable delay in, or failure, to treat a disease led to harmful consequences.
- Damages: Lastly, the victim must prove the nature and amount of his or her losses for which compensation is demanded. Some examples of damages are medical bills to properly treat or mitigate the consequences of the failed treatment, lost wages or lost income earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
Proving Medical Malpractice Due to Failure to Treat
It is the patient’s responsibility to prove that the doctor or facility which failed to treat did so in a way that rises to the level of medical malpractice. This means the patient needs to come up with compelling evidence to prove all four of the above elements and refute any claims made by the defendant. Our firm recommends the following to show that the failure to treat was medical malpractice:
- Start collecting all medical records: Gather your medical records, going as far back as possible. It would also be a good idea to obtain records from other treating physicians and hospitals that did not commit medical malpractice since these can demonstrate your health prior to the errors that were made.
- Start collecting work-related records: You will probably miss work due to the need to acquire the treatment your doctor negligently failed to deliver, which means you will miss out on income. If your resulting condition is severe enough, you may lose substantial future career opportunities in the form of lost or decreased income, reduced working capacity, bonuses and promotions you may otherwise have earned, and more.
- Make notes related to your condition: Keep a journal of any pain and suffering you experience due to the failure to treat, along with any mental or emotional issues you encounter. Include in your notes any limitations that your condition imposes upon your ability to carry out basic daily functions.
Contact Our Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Attorney
The final step you should take is to hire an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice lawyer. Please note that there is a time limit to file a malpractice claim. Although this deadline is generally three years, it can be as little as two years in cases of state-funded medical care.
Regardless, it is imperative that you do not delay taking action. Give Rikard & Protopapas a call to discuss your case and get started with a claim today.