What Is Patient Abandonment?

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.

How Does Abandonment Affect the Patient?

While there are valid reasons for a health care provider to stop treating a patient, it doesn’t mean they can immediately stop without informing the patient or giving them time to seek replacement options. When patients aren’t given enough time and do not have another physician ready to provide treatment, they may suffer more from lack of treatment.

Sustaining more injuries or feeling poor as a result of a progressing illness because a health care provider abandoned you can be an emotionally difficult experience. You put your trust in a professional and they did not act in your best interests. While this can be difficult to handle, you can seek legal action. Let’s look into the different aspects of medical malpractice so you know what your claim is going to need.

Establishing Malpractice from Patient Abandonment

If you believe you have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit, you’re going to need a dependable lawyer at your side. They will be able to tell you the main elements of a med mal case. The law firm of Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law is well-practiced in medical malpractice and will start finding evidence to prove the following points in your case:

• There was an established relationship between the health care provider and the patient.
• When the patient needed care, the health care provider abandoned them. Examples include doctors, surgeons, specialists, and other types of health care providers.
• The nature of the abandonment left the patient without the time to find a replacement health care provider. It’s important to note that their doctor doesn’t have to pick a new provider. They just need to give their patient time to find another. They can also make recommendations or direct the patient to other resources to help them find a new person to treat them.
• The health care provider’s abandonment led to the patient’s injuries.

Consulting with an attorney is vital as they will know the laws that apply to your situation. For example, if a nurse exhibited patient abandonment, then the following must be present:

• The nurse accepted a patient assignment, which would establish the nurse-patient relationship.
• The nurse ended the nurse-patient relationship without giving notice to their supervisor, employer, or the appropriate person so the patient could continue receiving nursing care.

It’s important to carefully gather evidence to adequately show these points to give your case the best chance of success. As we investigate, we’ll look into how you learned your health care provider would no longer be treating you, if they gave any warning, and if they provided any methods for you to choose a new one. We’ll also seek answers about how much you suffered as a result of your abandonment. If your illness or injury worsened, or you sustained new injuries because you didn’t have replacement care, then your original health care provider may be held liable. These injuries may have been prevented had they not abandoned you.

In most medical malpractice cases, testimony from an expert witness can help establish negligence and support your case. This expert will need to have similar medical training and work in a similar field as the health care provider who was attending to you. Our lawyers will find the correct medical expert to give their professional opinion on whether or not medical malpractice occurred through patient abandonment.

Contact Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law

The effects of medical malpractice can put your wellbeing at stake. If this has happened to you or a loved one, you deserve justice. Our firm is here to provide the support and help you need. We have a skilled medical malpractice lawyer who will hold the liable party or parties accountable for their actions. They need to know their actions were unacceptable.

Start your legal journey today and give our office a call. We’ll begin with meeting in an obligation-free consultation to discuss your options.