Failure to Treat | New Mexico Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Doctors and patients alike fear medical malpractice. But while malpractice can end a doctor’s career, it has more disastrous effects for those they treat. A negligent clinician could diminish a patient’s quality of life. In fact, depending on the error, he or she could end a patient’s life altogether. New Mexico residents who have been adversely affected by negligence deserve justice. A licensed attorney can help you navigate your medical malpractice lawsuit.

What Is Failure to Treat?

Failure to treat is one of the many ways a doctor can be negligent. It is a common form of medical malpractice in New Mexico. It relates to diagnostic errors as a whole. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins, a diagnostic error “is a diagnosis that is missed, wrong or delayed, as detected by some subsequent definitive test or finding.” They continue, “The ensuing harm results from the delay or failure to treat a condition present when the working diagnosis was wrong or unknown, or from treatment provided for a condition not actually present.” Diagnostic errors and failure to treat are some of the most prevalent forms of malpractice.

Failure to treat might include failing to:

• Inform a patient about all available medical treatments
• Perform necessary medical tests
• Recognize and treat a heart attack or stroke in the emergency room
• Order and perform essential medical tests
• Treat a known medical condition

New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers are familiar with failure to treat cases, and they understand the impact such errors have on patients.

How Does Failure to Treat Affect Patients?

When doctors fail to treat patients, they might be responsible for medical malpractice in New Mexico. A patient’s existing condition can worsen because of delayed treatment. In some instances, timely treatment can be the difference between life and death. For others, it can be the difference between noninvasive and invasive procedures. Cancer, in its early stages, might require a course of radiation. If a doctor’s failure to treat lets the disease progress, then the patient might need surgery or chemotherapy. In other cases, it might be too late to save the patient.

If you or someone you love experienced negative side consequences because of a doctor’s failure to treat, a Carabin Shaw lawyer can help you recover damages.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

While a medical malpractice lawsuit cannot take away your pain, it can ease some of your financial burdens. For a successful claim, New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers will need to prove that:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed: Your medical records will establish the connection you have with your physician. As your doctor, the defendant had to act in a way that any “reasonably prudent” health care worker under “like or similar circumstances” would find acceptable. This benchmark is also known as the “standard of care.”
• Your physician violated the standard of care: If your doctor acted outside the standard of care, then they may be responsible for medical malpractice. New Mexico hospital negligence attorneys might prove this by looking over your medical records and consulting with other doctors. An expert will testify on your behalf.
• Your physician’s negligence caused injury: Because many people who undergo medical treatment have a host of health issues, it is sometimes difficult to prove that negligence caused your specific injury. But, do not worry. New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers can look at the facts and make this connection.
• Your injury led to specific damages: Lastly, in a medical malpractice in New Mexico claim, your lawyer must show that your doctor’s negligence caused significant damage to you. Costly past and future medical bills, disability, and loss of income are some of the itemized losses you can claim in your lawsuit.

The right attorney is ready to make your case.

Call Carabin Shaw Today

If you live in New Mexico and need a medical malpractice lawyer to handle your failure to treat case, call us today at 915-779-2301 or toll-free at 1-800-862-1260.

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