Cleveland Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help Determine if Your Gynecologist Committed Medical Malpractice August 9, 2012.
Cleveland medical malpractice attorneys see case after case of gynecologists practicing outside the lines of the standard of care. Patients are often left to deal with the consequences of injuries or illnesses, medical bills, lost wages, and years of pain and suffering because of a gynecologist’s negligent or reckless behavior. When a doctor practices negligent medicine, it is considered medical malpractice and legal action can be taken.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Gynecologists may be held liable for malpractice if their treatment falls below the accepted standard of care or practice. This means if a gynecologist’s action or inaction resulted in an injury or death, and an otherwise similar medical professional would have acted differently, then the case could be investigated for medical negligence.
For example, a patient complaining of excessive vaginal bleeding may have a biopsy done. The doctor misreads the results and declares the patient’s biopsy normal when it is in fact atypical. The patient continues to suffer through years of intermittent bleeding until another biopsy is ordered by another doctor. Uterine cancer is found and it is determined that it should have been detected in the previous biopsy. In this case, the gynecologist may be held liable for medical negligence because appropriate and diligent actions were not taken, considering the patient was still having vital health issues.
This real-life case was handled by theClevelandmed mal attorneys at Mellino Law Firm, LLC. Their experience and dedication to their client helped win her $4.3 million. Although it couldn’t undo the damage done from the misdiagnosis, it will assist with medical bills and other expenses related to her misdiagnosis of cancer.
Cleveland medical malpractice attorneys can tell you there are three general areas under which gynecologists may be held liable for medical mistakes that occur.
These situations can include the following:
- failing to properly diagnose a patient’s medical issue;
- making a mistake in treatment; and
- not obtaining informed consent from a patient before proceeding with treatment.
An example of this may occur when a uterine biopsy is misread as normal and a patient’s cancer progresses aggressively. Another situation may be when a gynecologist makes a mistake in treatment, such as puncturing a patient’s bowels during ovarian cyst removal or leaving a foreign object inside a patient during a hysterectomy. Additionally, gynecologists must obtain informed consent from their patients before providing any kind of treatment or a claim may be pursued.
All of these cases may be legally defined as medical malpractice. In these circumstances, gynecologists failed to uphold the standard of care expected from a doctor.
Defining Standard of Care
The simplest definition of a standard of care upholds gynecologists to perform their duties with the same standard as their colleagues. Would another gynecologist in a similar circumstance performed the procedures or treatment in the same way the doctor in question did? If not, why not, and does this mean the gynecologist acted negligently or recklessly?
In a med mal case, an expert witness typically is asked to testify and explain what the normal procedures would be for a gynecologist practicing the proper and appropriate standard of care. This is where an attorney can be especially helpful as law firm’s usually already have connections with resources that can help back your claim.
Talk to a Cleveland Medical Malpractice Attorney About Your Legal Rights
Gynecologists who negligently or recklessly treat their patients should be held accountable for medical mishaps that seriously harm another. The attorneys at Mellino Law Firm, LLC have more than 20 years of experience protecting the rights of Cleveland patients. To learn more about the laws surrounding malpractice in Ohio’s medical field, give us a call at (440) 333-3800.
