Medical malpractice comes in many varieties in Texas. Most of the time, malpractice occurs when a doctor fails to take appropriate action in accordance with applicable medical standards. For example, a doctor may fail to conduct a sponge count following an operation, resulting in a sponge being left inside of a patient. This is often the situation in medical malpractice cases where doctors fail to diagnose a medical condition by neglecting to order the right tests or inaccurately interpreting test results. Sometimes, though, medical malpractice can occur even when it appears that doctors are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
Just look at one recently filed case. There, a man presented for medical treatment of what appeared to be flu-like symptoms. It was at that time that two doctors diagnosed him with cancer that had spread throughout his lungs and liver. The doctors told the 52-year-old that the disease was terminal. Mere days later, a third doctor confirmed the prognosis.
After that, the man began making his own funeral arrangements and faced the grim reality of breaking the news of his own impending death to his wife and two children. The family was utterly devastated.
Yet, days later, the man returned to the hospital to receive biopsy results. These test results proved that the man did not have cancer, but instead was suffering from an inflammatory disease that is treatable. While the doctors who initially diagnosed the man with terminal cancer are relieved, the man has filed a lawsuit against them for inflicting him and his family with what could have been avoidable pain and suffering.
Oftentimes medical professionals think they are doing the right thing, when in reality they are not. A doctor may think a surgery is necessary when it is not, or that a procedure is being conducted correctly when it is not. When a failure to diagnose, whether that means receiving the wrong diagnosis or a misdiagnosis, results in damages, then a medical malpractice lawsuit may be justified.
