There is a perception out there that medical negligence cases, medical malpractice cases, and other legal issues come only in complicated procedures such as surgery. On the contrary, surgery is actually the second leading cause of malpractice claims for primary physician care diagnosis topping the charts in this one. Surprised? You actually should not be.
People visit their primary care physicians way more often than they are likely to consult a surgeon. Also, primary care physicians have an overall approach and are the first responders in most cases. In such cases, it leaves them and the patient vulnerable to malpractice due to negligence, oversight, human errors, or drug-related incidents. As a medical malpractice litigator, it can be hard to prove that there was considerable negligence or preventable misdiagnosis that occurred to win your clients’ case. However, research and history have shown us that everything that a physician says or does during the course of treatment is the best possible defense any patient can have. Not clear – We mean it is the medical documents or medical records that help you get your client the settlement they need.
How can medical documents and medical records help win Primary Physician Related Malpractice cases?
When it comes to cases that have clinic documents and diagnosis errors as the base, the going gets a little tricky. Unlike a major procedure-related case, there are not a lot of documents to go by and cross-reference. Since most people never realize that they can sue their primary care doctor for negligence, lawyers don’t get a lot of cases to cite or take reference from.
So, it is the medical chart, medical history form, and patient/doctor maintained medical records that come in handy.
If you look at these types of malpractice claims, the three leading and common causes that affect a patient are :
- Misdiagnosis due to negligence or oversight
- Drug-related issues such as improper dosage, missing dosage, or frequency error, or route errors
- Accidents in emergency rooms or clinics
For all of these, the first place to start is the patient/your client. Most people today are advised to be more alert and aware when it comes to their medical records. Your client has the right to see his/her medical chart, report, and have the diagnosis explained to them.
Clinic physicians or family doctors often maintain a patient based file with medical history forms, medical records, medical charts, test results, and prescriptions. This set of documents can help throw light on the course of treatment chosen by the doctor.
You can consult a medical summary firm like The Medsum to go through the documents, analyze, and make the medical facts make sense for your case. For example, if the doctor failed to highlight a concerning condition after checking the annual test results or conducted a procedure that they did not specialize in, you can use these to prove your case.
Most physicians recommend that their patients see a specialist or undergo a specific procedure in a specialty hospital. This is based on their primary diagnosis. Failing to make such recommendations can be considered negligence on their part. Also, you can check the prescriptions written and filled to prove if the error was made there.
Medical Summary of Primary Physician records
Even though there is not a pile of documents to attack here unlike a major surgery or personal injury case, the importance is still high. The medical data can get confusing, and it is important to have a cohesive chronological summary to present to the insurance companies or the court.
Hiring a firm like The Medsum can help you concentrate on the legal side with the utmost surety that the medical side of your case is in good hands.
Contact us today for a quote.