If my wife suffered complications from medicine prescribed by a nurse practitioner because she never got to see the doctor, what can she do?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If my wife suffered complications from medicine prescribed by a nurse practitioner because she never got to see the doctor, what can she do?
She went to this OB-GYN group for the first time ever. She was never seen by the doctor, only the nurse practicioner. She went there because she gets bad cramps and heavy bleeding on her period. The nurse practicioner gave her 2 months worth of samples of birth control pills to help control her periods.Then, 7 weeks later, my wife was in the hospital with several blood clots in both lungs; art of her left lung died. The ER doctor told us the pill contributed to the pulmonary embolism. My wife is 39 years old, healthy, a non-smoker and no family history of blood clots. I feel she should have seen the actual doctor and checked out first before being given these pills.
Asked on July 17, 2015 under Malpractice Law, Florida
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Medical malpractice is negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable medical practitioner in the community would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
If the nurse practitioner is an employee of the Ob-Gyn group, the employer is liable for the negligence of the nurse practitioner which occurred in the course and scope of employment.
Prior to filing a lawsuit, it may be possible to settle the case with the malpractice insurance carrier for the Ob-Gyn group.
Your wife should obtain her medical bills, medical reports (especially the medical report from the ER) and documentation of any wage loss. Her claim filed with the malpractice insurance carrier should include these items.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of her condition/injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If the case is settled with the malpractice insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.
If your wife is dissatisfied with settlement offers from the malpractice insurance carrier, she should reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the Ob-Gyn group and the nurse practitioner. Only one lawsuit is filed naming both Ob-Gyn group and the nurse practitioner as defendants.
If the case is NOT settled with the malpractice insurance carrier, your wife's lawsuit for negligence must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or she will lose her rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.