Would it be considered malpractice if a Doctor refused to look into a repeated compliant of back pain and it be found by another Doctor that a patient had herniated discs that got worse due to time going by with no medical attention?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Would it be considered malpractice if a Doctor refused to look into a repeated compliant of back pain and it be found by another Doctor that a patient had herniated discs that got worse due to time going by with no medical attention?
I have been dealing with lower back pain for about six years and when I had first brought it to my doctor’s attention he responded with,
Asked on February 2, 2017 under Malpractice Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
It *might* be malpractice if the 1st doctor's diagnosis was not just wrong, but unreasonable: that is, if a reasonable doctor, when presented with your symptoms, weight, history, etc. would have concluded otherwise. That is because doctors are not required to be perfect, since practicing medicine is as much as art as a science; rather, they just have to be as good as we expect doctors to be. So if a reasonable doctor may have said that it wwas likely your weight, this would likely not be malpractice.
Also, bear in mind that even if this was malpractice, whether or not it is malpractice is only half the case. The other half is damages: the compensation to which you would be entitled due to the injury or costs you incurred because of the malpractice. For example, you say that your condition got worse due to lack of medical attention. How much worse? You can only recover for the medical costs or potentially "pain and suffering" from the increase in the severity due to the delay--not based on the consequences of any part of the condition you'd have had anyway. So depending on the effect of the delay, it may or may not be worthwhile economically to bring legal action--malpractice cases are expensive, and for relatively small injuries or worsening of conditions, are generally not worth it.
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.