There are innumerable types of medical malpractice cases, but most of them fall into the categories of a doctor’s failure to diagnose, not gaining the patient’s consent, surgical errors, prescription errors, and negligence in diagnosing associated diseases. All of these can result in serious injuries and permanent disabilities that can cause the victim lost wages and employment opportunities, pain and suffering, an overall decline in quality of life, and sometimes even death.

Our New Hampshire and Vermont medical malpractice lawyers at Rousseau & Ross know the lengths to which powerful health care companies will go to escape responsibility for their errors, and we refuse to accept settlements that are not fair and equitable under the circumstances of the case. We are not daunted by health care companies and their insurers stonewall tactics. Our reputation for zealous representation of our injured clients speaks for itself.

If you think you may have a medical malpractice claim, call us or complete an online form for a free consultation.

Emergency Room Errors

All emergency room medical providers have a duty to provide reasonable medical care to patients who come to the ER for help. Reasonable medical care is defined as what the average medical provider is expected to do under the same or similar circumstances.

In many cases in emergency medicine, the key to reasonable care is the concept of differential diagnosis. Essentially, a differential diagnosis is a list of all possible ailments the patient may be suffering from given their presenting signs and symptoms. For example, if a patient comes to the ER complaining of severe abdominal pain, the differential diagnosis will normally include indigestion, blockage, appendicitis, ulcer, or abdominal aortic aneurysm, among other things. The differential diagnosis may be different according to the history and background of the patient. For example, older patients may require a different range of potential conditions than younger patients.

The standard of care then imposes on the treating emergency room personnel, typically the emergency medicine doctor, to rule out those conditions which might be life-threatening. In our example, they would include appendicitis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, or a perforated ulcer.

How Does The Standard Of Care Affect My Case?

The standard of care requires the ER doctor to make reasonable diagnostic efforts to rule out these life-threatening conditions. If the life-threatening condition should have been on the differential diagnosis list and was not and/or the patient leaves the ER and later dies or sustains a serious permanent injury as a result of the failure to diagnose and treat the life-threatening condition, the ER doctor and hospital may be liable for medical malpractice.

The significant issues in these types of cases include:

• Whether the duty of care required the life-threatening condition to be included in the differential diagnosis based on the presenting signs and symptoms
• Whether the duty of care required additional diagnostic treatment to determine whether the life-threatening condition was present
• Whether proper timely treatment would have saved the patient’s life or avoided serious and permanent injury

Hospital Infections

The major danger with hospital staph infections is their resilience. Sixty percent of staph infections are drug-resistant. McCaughey points out that many other health care systems in countries like Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands have drastically reduced the infection rate in hospitals. However, unlike the United States, health care in those countries is a not-for-profit business.

In the United States, health care is based on profits. Doctors are encouraged by hospitals and insurance companies to reduce the number of diagnostic tests ordered; this reduces the costs incurred by the businesses. Each year, roughly 1.7 million Americans get drug-resistant staph infections from hospitals. It is estimated that it costs $30 billion each year to treat hospital infections. There are an estimated 100,000 deaths from hospital infections each year in the United States.

Most Common Types Of Hospital Infection

Ironically, the insurance companies blame lawyers for the rise in healthcare costs. However, if the insurance companies would do more to encourage more testing, hospital infections would decrease. This would result in a decrease in the number of medical malpractice and failure-to-diagnose lawsuits and their associated costs. The following is a list of the most common forms of lethal staph infection found in hospital patients:

• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – This strain has been in the news recently and is responsible for 120,000 hospital infections each year.
• Clostridium difficile – This infection is often fatal and its symptoms include diarrhea.
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa – This lethal strain causes respiratory distress and is responsible for almost 20 percent of reported cases of patients acquiring pneumonia while in hospital care.
• Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) – Ten percent of hospital infections are a result of this strain. This strain usually targets the urinary tract and open wounds.

Surgical Errors / Surgeon Negligence

It is usually said that there is no such thing as “routine” surgery. Whether you are having your tonsils removed or having major open-heart surgery, any type of surgical procedure is a serious matter and must be performed with extreme care. Unfortunately, surgical errors caused by negligence are a relatively common occurrence, causing severe injury or even death to countless patients each year. If you have been a victim of surgical negligence, our attorneys can help you pursue fair compensation.

We handle surgical error claims related to:

• Surgeon incompetence
• Improper pre-operative planning
• Surgeon fatigue
• Surgeon intoxication
• Surgical neglect

Objects Retained After Surgery

Advances in medical technology have made crucial surgeries more successful and safer than ever. However, surgery is not without its risks. One of the significant things that can happen after surgery is retained objects in a patient’s body, which can cause severe or life-threatening injuries.

When surgery is performed, doctors and nurses often place objects such as sponges and tools inside the patient’s body to aid in the procedure. It is standard for these objects to be removed after the surgery; however, negligent medical professionals sometimes neglect to do so. Some of the objects that are commonly retained in patients’ bodies after surgery include sponges, gauze and cotton swabs. There is also the chance that pins, blades, scissors and other tools are retained.

What Is The Risk Of A Retained Object?

These objects can pose a significant risk to the patient after a surgery. These tools may puncture blood vessels or organs and can cause damage to muscles and bone joints. These foreign objects may also cause serious infections after the surgery, which can be life-threatening to the patient.

Retained objects after surgery are alarmingly common, occurring in as many as one out of every 1,000 instances. It is especially common in surgeries that have long durations when multiple teams are performing the procedure, as well as in patients with high body mass.

Prescription Medication Errors

There are many ways that a prescription medication error can occur. Because of the numerous people involved in the medication process, there are more chances for a mistake to happen.

A few of the most common prescription drugs mistakes are:

• Medication mix-ups: This generally happens at hospitals and nursing homes when medication is given to the wrong patient. Doctors and medical staff working long hours, high patient turnover, and human error increases the chances for this mistake.
• Incorrect dosage: This can happen if a doctor mistakenly writes the wrong dosage on the prescription or if the pharmacy misreads the dosage information, giving you too much or too little of what you need.
• Drug warnings: A doctor may neglect to convey the drug manufacturer’s instructions, warnings, risks, and side effects to you, which can lead to a misinformed decision or incorrect usage.
• Prescription interaction: This can happen if a doctor prescribes a drug that interacts negatively with another prescription being taken or if the drug contains an ingredient in which you are allergic.
• Ineffective medication: If the doctor prescribes a medication that causes the underlying condition being treated to worsen.
• Equipment malfunction: An incorrect dosage of medication can be given if the machine administering it fails or breaks.

How To Avoid Prescription Errors

Though your doctor and pharmacy are in control of what prescriptions you get and how you receive them, there are ways for you to stay on top of your prescriptions and help avoid medication mistakes. Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor or pharmacist questions. When you’re informed throughout the process you can feel satisfied that you have the correct medication and dosage.

Some steps you can take include:

• Get informed: While at the doctor’s office, ask lots of questions about the medication: what it looks like, proper dosage, how often to take, and what to expect. Always ask about any side effects and risks associated with the drug. Ask about any abbreviations or acronyms used so there is no confusion at the pharmacy.
• A copy of prescription: If your doctor calls in the medication to the pharmacy, ask for a written copy to confirm you have the correct prescription at the pharmacy.
• Establish one pharmacy: Only doing business with one pharmacy is beneficial so that they have a record of all of your medications. It also enables you to have a relationship with the pharmacist who can help you avoid dangerous drug interactions.
• Verify prescription: Say yes if your pharmacist asks if you want to discuss your medication. During the discussion, you can check to make sure the prescription matches the doctor’s description of the drug. Always confirm the prescription label has your name, correct dosage, and strength.

Medical Malpractice Statute Of Limitations

The first step in filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is making sure you are still permitted to do so. The law in New Hampshire states that medical malpractice claims must be filed within three years of the date of the alleged malpractice. This is known as a “statute of limitations.” Filing a lawsuit after this time period has expired will almost always result in your claim being dismissed, leaving you with no other option to seek justice. The purpose of this law is to ensure that malpractice cases have credible evidence that has not been lost or distorted with time. Since memories can fade and records can be lost as time passes, it is crucial to act fast and commence legal action as soon as possible to maximize your chances of success.

It is important to note that this “clock” does not begin until your injuries have been, or reasonably should have been, discovered. Once your injuries are discovered, your three-year time limit starts. If you have only recently discovered that you were a victim of a malpractice act that happened years ago, you may still have a right to sue.

Let Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Help You

Medical malpractice cases can be among the most difficult, not just from a legal perspective, but more importantly from the perspective of the victim and the victim’s family. That’s why we try to treat our medical malpractice clients and their families with the same care and respect we would if the clients were members of our own family. And in many respects by the time the case is over, we feel like the client is a member of our family. You can see how some of our clients feel by visiting our client testimonial pages. As consumers, we depend most on doctors and other healthcare professionals. We pay them for their services, and in return, we assume that we will receive expert treatment. While we all know that people sometimes make mistakes, a doctor’s error has far more serious repercussions than most.

To help your family, our attorneys won’t just settle for what the defendant’s attorneys offer; Rousseau & Ross decides with our clients what a fair settlement should be, and if the other side won’t meet our demands, we will take our client’s case to trial and let the jury decide. We enjoy a reputation among malpractice defense attorneys for being fair but tough litigators, and they know that if are not willing to settle the case voluntarily, our legal team will be fully prepared to take the case to trial.

Contact Us Today

If you or a loved one has sustained serious harm or even wrongful death due to the negligence of a health care provider, our attorneys at Rousseau & Ross will use their years of litigation experience to work for you. We deal with many of the aspects often related to medical malpractice cases such as insurance liens, negotiating unpaid medical bills, and the recovery of other insurance benefits not included in your initial lawsuit. We are a full-service law firm and we will assist you in all associated legal issues for the one contingency fee. Trust the lawyers other lawyers trust; call Rousseau & Ross today.

We represent clients throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. If you want the aggressive and expert pursuit of your medical malpractice claim and full and fair compensation for the harm caused to you by the negligence of a doctor or health care professional, call Rousseau & Ross or use the online form to schedule a free consultation.