6 Signs Your Bad Medical Outcome Might Actually Be Malpractice

Bad medical outcomes can be painful, confusing, and sometimes deadly, but they aren’t rare. Thousands of people experience harm from medical care (or lack thereof) every year, but not every poor outcome constitutes negligence. 

If you’ve experienced medical harm and are wondering if it crosses the line into malpractice, here’s what to look for.

1. You must prove the four pillars

Before you start collecting evidence, consider the foundation for a medical malpractice case. Simply experiencing a bad result isn’t enough. You must meet four elements:

Establish a duty of care. To file a lawsuit, you must first show that the medical provider owed you a duty of care. This is easy to establish. A duty of care exists when a provider agrees to treat you either explicitly or implicitly. By doing so, they accepted the responsibility to provide care consistent with professional norms. Being seen in the emergency room is enough to establish a duty of care.

 Prove breach of duty. Next, you must show that the medical provider deviated from acceptable standards and acted in a way that their competent peers would not have under similar circumstances. A bad outcome isn’t enough. Their actions need to fall below the standard.

 Direct causation. You must prove that the breach directly caused your harm and would not have happened otherwise.

 Quantifiable damages. Even if you can prove breach of duty and causation, you need to prove actual damages, like medical bills, lost wages, disability, and pain and suffering. Without measurable damage, the court can’t enforce liability.

 Malpractice cases can be hard to win if they go to trial, and that’s why most settle out of court.

 2. New, unexplained symptoms or a worsening condition

One of the clearest red flags is when you develop new symptoms or your existing symptoms worsen in a way you were never warned about. Medical procedures do come with known risks like bleeding, infection, nerve damage, etc. However, if you experience complications that were not disclosed and are rare or tied to negligence, that’s a sign of malpractice.

Another potential sign is if your treatment plan was going well and then suddenly derails without any known explanation. This can indicate oversight or error. This alone won’t prove malpractice, but it will strengthen your case.

3. Gross errors and basic protocol failures

It’s horrifying to think about, but sometimes errors are so blatant and preventable that they’re unmistakable medical malpractice. For instance, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient is more common than you might think. It’s also common for doctors to operate on the wrong body part or provide the wrong procedure altogether.

Since these types of issues are considered egregious and preventable, courts tend to favor the victim. It’s one of the strongest types of medical malpractice cases.

4. Second opinions indicating deviation

If you get a second opinion from another doctor who says the previous care fell below accepted standards, that can be compelling evidence of malpractice. If you choose to pursue a lawsuit, your lawyer will get experts to testify regarding this deviation, and that can really strengthen your case. And if your care deviated from published standards and guidelines, that can also help your claim.

5. Missing records or altered charts

Medical records are your strongest form of evidence in a malpractice case. When your records are missing, suspicious, or contradictory, that’s a red flag. For example, if your provider failed to document key decisions, symptoms, or tests, that gap can help your argument that you weren’t treated properly. Another sign is entries made after the fact, especially without a timestamp or an amendment log. This raises questions about a potential cover-up.

In severe cases, you might notice white-out on your medical records and illegible overwrites and timestamps. These are big red flags that something isn’t right and can support your claims in court.

6. Failure to diagnose (or a misdiagnosis)

One of the most common signs of malpractice is a missed, delayed, or incorrect diagnosis that made it impossible to pursue effective early intervention. For example, one woman sued a hospital for delayed emergency care that she claimed caused permanent cognitive injuries.

Delayed treatment, lack of referrals, and ignored or misinterpreted diagnostic tests are all signs of negligence related to failure to diagnose.

Don’t hesitate to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit when warranted

If any of the above sound familiar, contact an attorney immediately to determine if you have a case. It’s the only way to pursue justice and get compensated for your injury.