Avoid Being a Victim of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice lawsuits can often be a stressful experience. Having to prove that there was indeed negligence on the part of the attending physician or the hospital can add unnecessary stress on the suffering patient.
Medical malpractice lawsuits can also be expensive. Hospitals, doctors and their insurance companies will often choose to draw out the litigation, forcing plaintiffs to withdraw the case or settle for smaller amounts outside of court due to the rising costs of retaining a lawyer, getting medical expert testimonies and court appearance fees.
A lot of patients often feel helpless in preventing medical malpractice from happening. This can result in patients not getting the justice they deserve. When medical malpractice occurs, making sure to get a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer, such as those from The Tinker Law Firm, is crucial to getting the support that is most often needed in such lawsuits.
Nevertheless, there are a few things that people can do to avoid becoming a medical malpractice victim.
The best way to avoid being a victim of medical malpractice is to avoid doctors and hospitals altogether. This doesn’t mean refusing treatment though. Try to observe a healthier lifestyle such as getting regular exercise, sticking to a healthy diet, getting the right amount of sleep and taking vitamins. In doing so, the chances of needing to see a physician, undergo medical procedures or treatment that could end in a medical malpractice lawsuit will be lowered.
A lot of doctors often advise against visiting online health information sites like WebMD, as a lot of the diagnoses that are churned out by those sites are not specific to the patient in question. While a diagnosis coming from those sites might not be reliable, they can, however, be used to give patients ideas on what questions to ask their doctors.
Full transparency is often key in preventing incorrect treatment and diagnosis. Doctors only operate off of the information that is being presented to them. By withholding any information–no matter how small or insignificant it might seem–from the attending physician, the risk of being given the wrong medicine or procedure goes up. Report any signs and symptoms even if it feels unrelated to the chief complaint.
While doctors and hospitals are good at treating patients and helping them feel better, no one else knows their bodies better than the patients themselves. Patients often feel like they have no say over their own body while they are under the care of a physician or a medical center. This is absolutely incorrect. This is the very reason why patients are required to provide verbal or written consent for certain procedures. Anytime a patient feels that the treatment is not effective or they feel worse, they should raise these concerns to the attending physician.
Always ask questions. Patients sometimes feel like they have no right to ask their doctor questions about their symptoms, diagnosis, or treatment. While doctors are good at what they do, they are still human and still run the risk of making mistakes. Getting a second opinion from another doctor in the same field of expertise is helpful in preventing medical malpractice from occurring.
Boris Dzhingarov graduated UNWE with a major in marketing. He is the founder of ESBO ltd a brand mentioning company. He is also passionate about meditation and healthy living. You can find articles on such topics at his spiritual blog Dzhingarov.com.