Malpractice In The Treatment Of Infectious Diseases

When identifying and treating dangerous infections, whether on the skin, in the blood, or within key organs, doctors must be skilled and cautious. It is critical to take the necessary precautions, and the infection should not be overlooked. The repercussions of doctors and other healthcare workers making errors in the treatment of dangerous infections can be catastrophic, if not lethal. If you or a family member has been damaged as a result of a healthcare provider's poor treatment of an infectious condition, you should seek legal advice from an experienced infectious disease malpractice lawyer.

Infectious Diseases Not Treated Properly

Infections are caused by microorganisms such as parasites, fungi, viruses, or bacteria. The disease can transmit from one person to another through direct or indirect contact once they have been affected. The signs and symptoms of an infection vary depending on the organism. A patient's tiredness or fever are common side effects. In order to treat a life-threatening illness, your primary care provider may send you to an infectious disease expert or possibly admit you to the hospital. However, an over-the-counter medicine may be adequate in some cases.

Failure to timely treat an infection, failure to realize how serious an infection is, failure to identify the source of the infection, failure to prescribe antibiotics before surgery to stop an infection, failure to seek and culture samples of the infected area prior to starting antibiotics, failure to refer a patient to an infectious disease specialist, and failure to match the appropriate antibiotics with the particular iatrogenic organism are all examples of improper treatment.

When is it considered medical malpractice if a patient is treated incorrectly?

To prove that your doctor's inappropriate treatment was medical malpractice, you must show that each of the following factors is more likely than not present in your case: (1) the defendant owed you a professional standard of care, (2) the defendant breached that standard by failing to treat the illness correctly, (3) causation, and (4) damages The professional standard of care in New York is determined by the defendant's speciality and geographic location.

In most medical malpractice lawsuits, the plaintiff is required to hire an expert. Your medical record and other evidence can be examined by the medical expert, who has experience treating infectious illnesses, to assess the appropriate professional standard of care and whether your physician violated it. The expert may also testify as to whether the breach caused you actual and legal harm. Because medical malpractice lawsuits sometimes devolve into expert disputes, hiring an attorney who knows how to deliver credible expert testimony on the stand can have a significant impact on the case's result. Because expert evidence might be sophisticated and specialized, the lawyer's job is to make sure that it is intelligible to a lay jury.

Damages

You may be able to hold your doctor liable for your economic and noneconomic damages if your attorney can prove that your doctor wrongly treated your infectious condition and that the degree of care given constituted medical malpractice. Medical expenses, salary loss, replacement services, and out-of-pocket payments are all examples of economic losses. Mental agony, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and loss of consortium are examples of noneconomic losses. Unfortunately, loved ones might die as a result of poor treatment by healthcare personnel. It may be reasonable to file a wrongful death case for damages if a loved one died as a result of inappropriate treatment of an infectious condition.