Fort Myers medical malpractice attorney Tag Archives

Fort Myers medical malpractice lawsuits are different from other kinds of claims alleging general negligence. Basically, cases against doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are held to a higher standard than other types of claims.

It’s not enough that there was a bad outcome or even to show that the health care provider was negligent. Instead, what one has to show, is that the actions of the health care worker breached the applicable standard of care. For this, you have to hire an expert witness with the same professional training as defendant who can attest to that professional standard (it varies by profession and location) and how the defense violated it.

Additionally, there are a host of notification requirements and other rules that apply to medical malpractice claims that simply don’t apply to other types of negligence lawsuits. Continue reading ›

At some time in their lives, Americans will experience a missed, delayed or wrong diagnosis from a health care provider. That’s according to the latest in a series of in-depth patient safety reports by the Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences.

The first of these studies, released in 1999, was the bombshell, “To Err is Human,” which revealed some 100,000 people die every year in the U.S. as a result of health care errors. The latest estimates indicate the actual figure is likely four times that high. But diagnostic errors are scarcely mentioned in this literature. Now, researchers contend this under-studied issue accounts for far more problems than other types of mistakes, such as surgical mishaps or medication errors.

Much of research in the past has spotlighted mistakes that occur in hospitals. This is, of course, important. After all, that’s where emergency services are rendered, many surgeries take place and patients receive longer-term, inpatient critical care. However, it’s not where the majority of diagnostic errors happen. They occur in surgical centers, outpatient facilities and doctors’ offices. Continue reading ›

Articles Tagged with Fort Myers medical malpractice attorney

Dupuy v. NMC Operating Co. – Dirty Surgical Instruments Cause Illness

Wrong, Missed, Delayed Diagnosis Happens to Majority of Americans, New Report Says