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How Can Medical Malpractice Result in a Spinal Cord Injury?

Medical Malpractice,Spinal Cord Injuries On Tuesday, May 31, 2022

A spinal cord injury has the capacity to change your life forever. If a medical professional who was not acting within the correct standards of care for the medical industry caused your spinal cord injury, you have legal rights. You are allowed to go up against the negligent medical professional or hospital in Connecticut to demand justice, accountability and financial compensation. A medical malpractice attorney can help you with this legal process.

Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

While many spinal cord injuries are caused by trauma, such as a back injury suffered in a car accident or fall, some result from diagnosable health conditions. Certain illnesses and diseases can impact the spine in a way that causes long-term or permanent damage, such as cancer, a tumor, spinal stenosis, a spinal abscess and meningitis. It is critical to diagnose these conditions quickly and start a treatment regime to minimize the potential damage to the spine.

If a physician negligently fails to diagnose a spinal cord condition when a reasonable and prudent doctor would have under the same circumstances, it is medical malpractice. You may be able to sue for this type of error if you or your lawyer can show that your spinal cord injury would not have occurred or would not be as severe had your doctor made a timely and correct diagnosis.

Emergency Room Errors

Emergency rooms need to be properly organized, managed and controlled for the safety and health of patients. Unfortunately, many emergency rooms in Connecticut are overwhelmed by the number of patients they receive and do not follow the correct medical protocols. If you are a victim of an emergency room error, such as premature discharge, failure to treat or a patient mix-up when you went to the ER, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit for a related spinal cord injury.

Failure to Warn or Lack of Informed Consent for a Procedure

Should you need surgery or another type of medical procedure, you have a right to give your informed consent to the treatment before anyone operates. Although the right to give informed consent is waived if you are unconscious or otherwise unable to give it, in all other circumstances, you must receive full information about the potential benefits and risks of a treatment, as well as available alternatives, beforehand. If you were not made aware of the potential risk of a spinal cord injury, this could give you grounds to file a lawsuit for lack of informed consent.

Anesthesia Administration Errors

Administering anesthesia is a delicate job that must be done carefully and prudently. Unfortunately, anesthesiologists can make mistakes, such as plunging the needle too close to a nerve or causing an epidural hematoma (bleeding in the spinal column). Traumatic needle insertion when undergoing anesthesia can give you grounds for a malpractice claim if it injures your spine.

Surgical Mistakes

If your surgeon behaves negligently, carelessly or imprudently during an operation – such as failing to properly communicate with his or her team or inadequately preparing for the procedure – this can inflict a preventable spine injury. Surgical errors such as severing or damaging a nerve, operating on the wrong body part, or failing to react appropriately in an emergency can all increase the risk of a patient suffering a permanent spinal cord injury.

Chiropractic Malpractice

Chiropractic care can cause more harm than good when performed negligently or incorrectly. If a chiropractor injured your back, neck or spinal cord or made existing spinal cord trauma worse, you can hold the negligent chiropractor liable. Like all health care providers, chiropractors have a legal obligation to conduct their practice in a reasonably prudent manner.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury that you believe is related to medical malpractice, contact a New Haven spinal cord injury lawyer at Loughlin FitzGerald, P.C. for a free consultation today.

 

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