As long as you can prove that your doctor’s omission to act amounted to medical negligence and that you suffered harm as a result of the delay of treatment or diagnosis, you may be able to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Failure to treat and delays in providing patients with proper care can cause even more severe damage than other types of medical malpractice such as surgical errors. And while, in theory, it sounds as if all patients whose treatment has been delayed can sue their doctor and recover compensation, in reality, it is more complicated than that.
Did failure to treat or delay amount to medical negligence?
“One of the things you need to prove to hold your doctor accountable is that his or her failure to provide you with timely and proper care amounted to medical negligence,” says our Hawaii failure to treat attorney at Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt, P.A.
In order to establish a doctor’s liability in a medical malpractice lawsuit, you will need to prove that another competent and qualified physician would NOT have delayed treatment or diagnosis under similar circumstances.
As you may have guessed by now, this requires the testimony of a qualified medical expert witness who will be prepared to testify in court. The medical expert witness will be working alongside your medical malpractice lawyer to establish that your doctor failed to provide you with the highest standard of care.
Often, a patient’s life or medical condition hinges on how soon he or she will begin to receive the necessary treatment. “For example, a delayed cancer diagnosis can leave the patient no choice but to undergo a more severe treatment like chemotherapy or even cause death because cancer no longer responded to treatment,” explains our experienced failure to treat attorney in Hawaii.
Did the delay cause or worsen your condition?
But establishing that the delay in treatment or diagnosis amounted to medical negligence is only half the battle. To successfully sue your doctor for failure to give you proper care in a timely manner, you will be required to show evidence that your injury, illness or medical condition was caused or aggravated as a result of that delay.
In that regard, your lawyer and medical expert witness in your case will have to demonstrate evidence as to how and to what extent the delay caused you harm. Those whose condition was not caused or worsened by the delay may also be able to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit, but only as long as the delay in treatment or diagnosis negated the possibility of administering certain types of treatment. Similarly, if the delay in treatment or diagnosis reduced the effectiveness of a certain treatment method or caused you any pain or discomfort, you may also be entitled to seek compensation.
Medical malpractice cases take months or even years to resolve. That is because medical malpractice laws in Hawaii are quite complicated and confusing for someone with no law degree. For that reason, having a Hawaii failure to treat attorney by your side is always a good idea to establish all components of a medical malpractice lawsuit and recover damages.
Find out more about how to assert your rights if your doctor failed to provide you with treatment in a timely manner. Schedule a free consultation with our lawyers from Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt, P.A., by calling at 808-736-5035.