There are many in the community who will say that medical malpractice lawsuits harm the practice of medicine. They claim that unworthy lawsuits increase the price of malpractice insurance and increase the cost of medical services as a result. They also claim that these high fees are driving people away from becoming doctors.
While there are statistics available that both support and contradict these claims, we believe that medical malpractice lawsuits are not only necessary, but play a very important role in helping our community and keeping it safe.
Medical Malpractice is the professional negligence by act of omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death. That means that a physician, nurse, or other healthcare worker didn’t meet the standards their profession requires them to meet. Those levels of care are not decided by the attorneys representing a client, they are set by the other doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals.
So when one of those medical professionals makes a mistake, or fails to act in the best interest of their patient, they are also acting against the interests their peers expect them to meet. Recently we had a client whose husband passed away because nurses failed to respond to a known potential side-effect of the surgery he received. Their failure to uphold their own standards lead to the unnecessary death of a good man.
Our filing and winning of this case sends a signal to the medical community that the requirements and standards they set in place were not followed. This case, and other medical malpractice cases we have handled, tell those doctors and nurses that they need to be more diligent in their care of the next patient. They need to ensure they recognize the signs they missed this time, and make sure the training they have received keeps them apprised of this and similar side effects of the procedures they perform.
While we are the first to admit that this is a horrible way to receive this type of education, it is necessary. We know that the next time they have a patient struggling to breath, they will take the necessary steps to ensure his airway in unobstructed, and that he or she will have a better chance of surviving any post-operative care.
If you feel that your physician, nurse, or healthcare worker failed to act and you were unduly injured due to their failure, please contact us and let us review the facts of your case. We have successfully handled several medical malpractice cases, and we can get your the compensation you deserve for your injury or loss.
Wooten Kimbrough, P.A. Orlando Medical Malpractice Attorneys