Woodlawn, MD Medical Negligence Lawyers

Attorneys for Medical Malpractice Claims in Woodlawn, Maryland

Patients who receive medical care can usually expect that doctors and other medical professionals will attend to their needs and take the right steps to protect their overall health. However, there are some situations where healthcare providers may fall short of these expectations. They may fail to assess a patient's condition correctly, fail to fully inform them about their options, or make mistakes when providing treatment. Medical negligence can have severe and long-lasting consequences for patients, including serious injuries and illnesses, permanent disabilities, or even death.

Medical malpractice claims may address preventable harm suffered by patients due to the negligence of medical professionals. Injured patients can take steps to hold individual providers and medical offices or hospitals accountable for the damages that have occurred. At Silverman Thompson, we can provide the legal representation needed in these cases, helping injury victims obtain financial compensation that will allow them to heal from their injuries, avoid ongoing difficulties, and move forward with their lives.

Misdiagnosis, Delayed Diagnosis, and Failure to Diagnose

The ability to diagnose conditions correctly is the foundation of effective medical treatment. A doctor who correctly identifies what is wrong with a patient can make sure the right forms of treatment will be provided. However, when a diagnosis is wrong, when a doctor delays in making a diagnosis, or when a condition is never identified at all, a patient can suffer serious harm. They may receive treatment for a condition they do not have, they may go without treatment that they need, or precious time may be lost as an illness progresses and becomes more serious.

A missed or delayed diagnosis may occur because of a failure to take a patient's reported symptoms seriously, a failure to order appropriate tests, a failure to follow up on abnormal test results, a failure to refer a patient to a specialist, or other forms of negligence. Our attorneys can help determine why a misdiagnosis occurred and ensure that providers will be held responsible for a patient's injuries.

Conditions That May Be Misdiagnosed

Some medical conditions are missed or misidentified more often than others. In some cases, their symptoms may be similar to other, less serious conditions, while in others, they may not be recognized because a doctor did not fully consider a patient's reported symptoms.

Cancer is a common issue addressed in medical malpractice claims involving misdiagnosis. Breast cancer may not be recognized in mammograms. Colorectal cancer may not be detected because a doctor attributes rectal bleeding to hemorrhoids without performing a more extensive evaluation. Lung cancer can be overlooked because of radiology errors, such as a failure to recognize a tumor on a chest X-ray or CT scan. A delayed diagnosis can allow cancer to advance from an early, treatable stage to one where treatment options are much more limited.

Stroke is a condition where the window for effective treatment can be small. The clot-dissolving medications may need to be administered within a few hours after a person starts experiencing symptoms of stroke, such as sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body, facial drooping, slurred speech, severe headaches, or vision changes. If emergency room personnel do not recognize these symptoms, they may not provide the treatment needed to prevent a person from suffering serious harm.

Heart attacks are another type of emergency that may not be recognized when a person receives treatment in an emergency room or hospital. Women, younger patients, and people with diabetes may experience symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, or jaw pain rather than chest pain, and providers may not recognize that these symptoms are related to heart attacks.

A pulmonary embolism can occur due to a blood clot in the lungs, and it could be fatal if not treated correctly. This condition may be misdiagnosed because symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, and rapid heart rate may be similar to other conditions.

When patients experience infections, sepsis can develop rapidly. Its early signs, which may include fever, high heart rate, and elevated respiratory rate, may be attributed to other causes. Failure to recognize sepsis in its early stages, delays in administering antibiotics, or failure to monitor a patient who may have experienced an infection can lead to septic shock, which can put a person's life at risk.

Medication Errors

Medications play a crucial role in the treatment patients receive, but they can cause serious injuries if they are not administered correctly. The process of prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications may involve multiple steps and multiple providers, and errors can occur at any point along the way.

Prescribing Errors

A doctor may order a medication that is inappropriate for a patient's condition, or they may overlook allergies or harmful interactions with other medications a patient is taking. Errors in prescriptions may lead to a person receiving the wrong dose of a medication.

Pharmacy and Dispensing Errors

Once a prescription is written, pharmacists will need to make sure a medication is dispensed to a patient correctly. Dispensing errors may include filling a prescription with the wrong drug or giving a person the wrong dose.

Administration Errors in Hospitals and Medical Offices

When receiving inpatient treatment, patients may be administered medications by nurses. Administration errors may occur when one patient receives a medication meant for a different patient, when a drug is administered at the wrong time, or when a medication is given by the wrong route, such as orally rather than through an IV.

Consequences of Medication Errors

Overdoses can occur because of a single excessive dose of a medication or the effect of multiple incorrect doses over time, and it may lead to issues such as organ damage or neurological injuries. A patient who receives the wrong medication may go without effective treatment for their condition, allowing a disease to progress. Dangerous interactions between drugs can cause cardiac problems, severe bleeding, seizures, or other problems. Allergic reactions to medications could put a person's life at risk.

Contact Our Woodlawn Medical Negligence Attorneys

At Silverman Thompson, we can help clients address multiple types of medical malpractice, including misdiagnosis, medication errors, birth injuries, surgical errors, anesthesia errors, nursing home negligence, and failure to provide informed consent. Our team can identify medical negligence, determine who was responsible for a patient's injuries, and fight to obtain compensation that will help a person and family recover from the harm they have suffered. Contact our Woodlawn, MD medical malpractice lawyers today by calling 410-385-2225 and scheduling a free consultation.