While most of the doctors in the country are highly dedicated individuals, it’s unfortunate that every so often a patient will have to endure undue suffering and poor care at the hands of a medical professional. If that’s happened to you or a loved one, you may be eligible for filing a clinical negligence claim.
What kinds of claims fall under the clinical negligence category? Here’s an overview of all the different types of claims.
Birth Injury. If you or your child were harmed in the birthing process due to clinical negligence, you stand a strong case of making a claim. Common birth injuries include cerebral palsy, shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injury and erbs palsy.
Cancer. Cancer misdiagnoses are another common arena of claims. If your cancer was misdiagnosed, resulting in a loss of lifespan, you may qualify for a claim. Many forms of cancer are treatable in early stages and much more difficult to treat in later stages. If a doctor misdiagnosed your cancer and prevented treatment early, they’ve negatively affected your chances of recovery.
Cardiology. If your doctor didn’t perform the proper tests after you complained of having chest pains which subsequently affected your cardiovascular health, you may qualify for a claim. If you had cardiovascular issues, such as heart attacks, angina, heart murmurs or heart blocks and you weren’t adequately diagnosed or treated, you may have a case.
Child Negligence. Child negligence cases apply both to newborn babies and to young children who’re particularly susceptible to medical issues. Any medical negligence that leads to a child’s injury or worsening of condition may qualify for a case.
Cosmetic Surgery. If your cosmetologist conducts surgery and leaves a scar afterwards or if you develop an infection afterwards, you can file for clinical negligence. Uneven breast implants after breast surgery or problems with eyesight after laser surgery can also qualify.
Eye, Nose and Throat Surgery. Most ENT surgeries go off without a hitch. Unfortunately, those that go wrong have dire consequences. These consequences include paralyzed facial muscles, damaged vocal cords, throat swelling and deafness. If you experience any of these symptoms after surgery, you have a strong negligence case.
Fatalities. If clinical negligence leads to fatalities, the estate of the deceased or the dependents of the deceased can both make a claim. In order for a dependent to make a claim, they must be able to prove that they would have obtained financial benefit from the deceased had they lived.
General medicine. General medicine cases include failure of your GP to refer you to the right specialist, failure to recognize and treat well known conditions, prescription of the wrong drugs, delay in diagnosis and other types of negligence.
General surgery. Poor surgery results, internal bleeding as a result of the surgery, organ damage, nerve damage, awareness during an anesthetized procedure and medical instruments left in the patient’s body can all result in general surgery claims. If the patient didn’t give consent for the surgery, a very strong claim can be made.
Gynaecology. Negligence by your Gynaecologist could result in infected bladders, failed abortions, infertility, failed contraception, urethral injury and more. All of these fall under the Gynaecology clinical negligence category.
Neurology. Neurologists specialize in making sure your brain and your body’s nervous system are functioning properly. Failure to properly test patients, resulting in brain injury, failure to prescribe proper epileptic medications and failure to diagnose a brain tumor are common neurology negligence claims.
Obstetrics Maternal Injury Negligence. Vaginal tears, still births and birth defects fall under this category. Failure to conduct tests to inform the mother of possible birth defects early in the pregnancy can also constitute Obstetrics Maternal Injury Negligence.
Ophthalmology. Eye related injuries fall in this category. Cases that involve failed laser surgery, corneal abrasions, cataract surgery, glaucoma and traumatic retinal detachment fall under this category.
Orthopaedic Injuries. If you’ve suffered an injury during knee surgery, hip surgery, shoulder surgery or hand, leg, arm or foot surgeries, you may qualify for an Orthopaedic clinical negligence claim.
Spinal Cord Injury. An injured spinal cord can result in partial or complete paralysis. Improper diagnosis, delayed diagnosis or poor surgery could lead to spinal injuries. These claims often lead to large settlements.
Urology. Urology claims involve kidney diseases, kidney stones, cancer in the bladder, testicles or prostate as well as any problems with vasectomies.
If you’ve suffered from one of the above types of clinical negligence, you may qualify for financial compensation. Of course, money can’t compensate you for the time and vitality that you’ve lost. However, receiving your due compensation can be an important part of moving forward.
Author Bio – This article has been written by LB Law. If you are a victim of medical or clinical negligence, their highly experienced team of clinical negligence solicitors can help you seek compensation. Their medical negligence solicitors have considerable experience in working with individuals and families facing the aftermath of all types of medical and clinical accidents.