Given the number of stories in which medical errors are discussed and people are seriously injured or die as a result, it is no surprise by now that doctors are not perfect. However, the scope of the mistakes they can make run the gamut between somewhat innocuous and fatal.
A misdiagnosis can lead to long-term damage and an unwanted lifestyle change from one in which the patient was independent to one where he or she will need assistance to perform even the most basic tasks. Doctors can make a mistake in diagnosing a stroke or a heart attack. Such a physician error can lead to brain injury, incapacitation or death.
Medical professionals can make a litany of mistakes that the people who are affected will not even know about. A mistake with anesthesia and not monitoring the patient’s blood pressure or heart can result in a heart attack or stroke. Nurses might not report the patient expressing that he or she is experiencing chest pain, dizziness, slurred words, a drooping of the face or weakness on one side of the body. Any of the medical professionals can make a wrong diagnosis. For example, a heart attack can be misdiagnosed as heartburn or an anxiety attack. Then there are the medication mistakes that happen all too frequently.
Since a heart attack or stroke can affect the entire body and the latter can have a severe impact on the brain, those who were victimized by this level of mistake must understand what they are facing in its aftermath. The family could be left to care for a loved one who needs help all day, every day. There could be a fatality. The costs both personally and financially can be astronomical. Those who think that a loved one was injured due to inadequate monitoring, a physician error, medication mistakes or some other gaffe should know that a lawsuit is a possibility. An attorney can help with investigating the case and pursuing compensation through litigation.
