Medical malpractice, which can involve birth injuries, prescription errors, and surgical mistakes, happen all too often in Mississippi and throughout the rest of our country, forcing patients to endure unnecessary pain, leaving them with irreversible health setbacks, and causing their deaths. Included in that list of medical negligence that harms Mississippians are misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses. These are also quite common errors doctors make in our state, causing their patients to suffer beyond measure.

When prospective clients reach out to our Biloxi law firm to discuss the health impasses they’ve been through, diagnostic-oriented ones tend to fall into one of two categories. Continue reading to learn more about what’s the difference between a misdiagnosis and a delayed diagnosis—the categories into which these experiences often fall.

When we go to the doctor, we expect our providers to carefully listen to our concerns and to take our symptoms into full consideration before making a diagnosis. Unfortunately, many doctors rush through appointments without taking the time to fully understand what’s going on. Failing to spend enough time and effort on a patient can be devastating, as the dangers of an inaccurate diagnosis are often severe.

If you suspect that you received an inaccurate diagnosis, seek a second opinion from a different doctor as soon as possible. Explain what happened with your previous doctor and why you believe there may have been a diagnostic error. Afterward, your next step may be to contact a lawyer about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The diagnostic tools available in modern medicine save lives every day. But what happens if a negligent health care provider uses these tools incorrectly? A patient injured by a usually-harmless diagnostic test—or the misinterpreted results of that test—may be able to file a medical malpractice claim against the medical professional who acted wrongly.

Although an MRI might be considered scary or unpleasant by many, few people think this medical imaging procedure can cause patients serious harm. In the majority of cases, it shouldn’t. MRI technology is relatively safe and valuable for diagnosing a variety of conditions. Only when used inappropriately can it cause a patient to suffer adverse health effects.

No matter the type of medical care, a patient always has the right to receive information and ask questions before undergoing treatment. Communication with a medical professional allows the patient to make decisions about their own health care. It educates the patient about risks, benefits, and alternative treatment options. It gives the patient the chance to voice concerns and gain a fuller understanding of medical terms and concepts they may not be familiar with. Informed consent is a fundamental component of any successful patient-physician relationship.

A health care provider has a legal and ethical obligation to facilitate this exchange of information prior to testing or treatment. If you visited a health care provider and there was no process of informed consent prior to your procedure, you may have faced an instance of medical malpractice.

Choosing the right hospital for your medical care is vital—if you decide to go to a hospital that is poorly ranked, it’s likely unsanitary, is understaffed, doesn’t perform medical tasks well, or a combination of any of these shortcomings. That’s why it’s important to know if the hospital you’re choosing is ranked high or low in your state.

While undergoing treatment for an injury or ailment, you’ve probably placed your trust in your health care provider. They’re the person to answer your questions, address concerns, and they know all about you and your health issue. In some cases, a health care provider may abandon their patient. This can be devastating to anyone, but it can also be life-threatening. If a health care provider unexpectedly stops treating a patient without a reason and does not give the patient adequate time to choose a new provider to take over, the patient’s health problems could progress. In these situations, this may be considered medical malpractice.

When a woman goes into the delivery process, there are many factors to keep track of. The medical team needs to monitor the mother and the baby’s vitals. They need to make sure their oxygen levels are normal and that the baby faces no complications when being delivered through the birth canal. However, issues during the pregnancy can also put the child at risk of being born with a birth injury.

If your child was born with a birth injury, they may have severe health complications that they’ll live with for the rest of their lives. It can be frustrating to know that it could have been prevented. If a medical care provider acted negligently, they should be held accountable for their actions.

It’s common for people to usually be nervous about having surgery. You’re putting all your trust in your surgeon and the hospital to fix your medical problem and help you recover so you can go home and get back to your regular life. When something goes wrong in surgery because of a doctor’s negligence, it can have long-lasting effects on your health. Surgical mistakes can be wrong site surgery, where the surgeon doesn’t operate on the correct area and sometimes, surgical tools or bandages can be left in the surgical site.

These situations are scary and a betrayal of trust. If you or a loved one has undergone surgery and the surgeon made a mistake, you have legal options to stand up for yourself. With the help of a Biloxi medical malpractice lawyer from Corban Gunn Law, you can fight for your rights and get the compensation you need.

It is important to diagnose and treat birth injuries as soon as possible.  Left untreated, birth injuries can lead to developmental problems, brain trauma, and even paralysis.  There are several action symptoms that can be observed while your baby is still in the hospital that immediately indicate a birth injury.  An arched back while crying, breathlessness, excessive drooling, lethargy, light sensitivity, and seizures are just a few.

Health related symptoms include anemia, fever, hearing loss, low heart rate, low oxygen in the blood, persistent coughing, poor weight gain, wheezing, and jaundice.  In most birth injury cases, babies will exhibit both action and health-related symptoms.