Ascertaining Whether You Have a Medical Malpractice Or Not

By: branson23 | Posted: 19th October 2010

While you may file a lawsuit against a medical practitioner or healthcare provider on grounds of medical malpractice, it is essential to understand that it would yield no results if there were no legal basis for the claims. What you need to do is consult a medical malpractice attorney proficient in Wisconsin laws before you initiate any legal action.

The most common ground for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is an error in diagnosis. There are three specific kinds of errors in this regard –

Failure to diagnose – This happens when your doctor fails to understand the connection between the symptoms and the health condition.

Failure to diagnose correctly – This happens when your doctor fails to understand the right health condition, giving rise to the symptoms.

Failure to diagnose timely – This happens when your doctor fails to understand the connection between the symptoms and the health conditions fast enough to prevent worsening of the condition.

However, every error on the part of the medical practitioner is not medical malpractice. Wisconsin laws would only give you compensation if you can prove certain things – the existence of duty to care (presence of doctor-patient relationship), the breach of this duty, and the occurrence of injury because of this error.

Suppose you visit the same doctor for years. He knows about your medical history, lifestyle, and habits. In such a circumstance, if you complain of chest pains, your doctor may suspect a heart condition and prescribe certain tests to confirm the diagnosis. If, in spite of his knowledge, your doctor fails to do this, you may have a case.

Contributory negligence rule applies to medical malpractice cases in Wisconsin. Therefore, your chances of getting a good amount as compensation diminish if you were partly at fault for the error in diagnosis. Therefore, you may not obtain a good compensation if you did not tell him about the chest pain.

Every instance is different. It is wise to consult a Wisconsin medical malpractice attorney to understand whether you have a strong claim or not. You may have a case of erroneous diagnosis if any of these occurs:

- Does not ask the right questions regarding your medical records and lifestyle
- Does not order particular tests necessary for diagnosis
- Does not interpret the test results correctly

If you think that an injury occurred because of an erroneous diagnosis, the first thing to do is get in touch with a medical malpractice attorney to ascertain whether you have a case or not.
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Tags: circumstance, occurrence, healthcare provider, health condition, health conditions, medical history, heart condition, common ground, medical practitioner, chest pain, chest pains, medical malpractice attorney, medical malpractice cases, right health, medical malpractice lawsuit