Maybe you went to get a second opinion on a pain in your side and your doctor discovered a tumor that a previous clinic missed in your initial examination. Or maybe a botched operation has created permanent nerve damage.
Whatever your situation, a medical expert’s negligence may have led to serious health consequences for you. Understanding key details about the physician and your injury or condition may help you know whether you have a right to an Indiana medical malpractice claim.
Negligence and how it relates to medical malpractice
Medical malpractice claims must prove negligence of the medical professional. Negligence in this case is a failure to take correct measures or meet working standards as dictated in the medical field. The medical negligence may include errors in:
- Treatments and surgeries
- Examinations
- Diagnosis
- General condition management
A doctor’s error in any of these may entitle you to a claim. Some doctors improperly prescribe drugs to their patients. Others are not as attentive to their patients and they do not appropriately examine, diagnose, treat or follow them. Some negligence may result when a provider ignores the patient’s pain or makes erroneous assumptions that lead to long-term health defects.
A wrongful death may bring complications
In some cases of negligence, the medical professional’s actions may lead to a wrongful death. If you believe your loved one’s death was due to medical malpractice, you will need an investigation of all relevant details.
While it is recommended that you seek legal representation for all medical malpractice claims, you will especially need investigative assistance in wrongful death. This is because the victim is no longer present and cannot share their experience as evidence, and wrongful death cases can be far more complicated than the malpractice claim of a living patient.
The Indiana statute of limitations
A statute of limitations exists to file a claim for medical malpractice in Indiana, but the application is fact-sensitive. Please contact us to discuss it. Please note that simply having an unwanted outcome from an operation or treatment is likely not enough to prove negligence.