How Medical Malpractice Can Change a Child’s Life

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Medical Malpractice

Malpractice can cause pain for any patient, but when a victim is a child, a young person suffers because of the negligence of a medical professional. Children can be harder to diagnose than adults, but they deserve the same level of care of time. Infants are especially challenging because they cannot tell you how they feel. An innocent child should not get sick or die because a doctor did not do their job.

What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice 

Some mistakes happen in medicine, but not all qualify as malpractice. Medical malpractice is when a standard of care is diverted from by any medical professional or institution. There is no exact definition for a medical standard of care, but across different fields, it is compared to how a reasonable professional would act in similar circumstances. For example, if a patient was misdiagnosed and not harmed by the treatment or lack of correct treatment, they likely would not have a case for malpractice.

Parents have the right to be protective of their children. If a doctor makes a child’s condition worsens or makes a child sick, they should be held accountable. Claims having to do with misdiagnosis are the most common for children, except for children up to a month old. A misdiagnosis can cause an actual illness to get worse, or the side effects from the wrong treatment can cause more harm than good.

Meningitis is a common source of malpractice lawsuits in pediatrics. It is hard to diagnose in children but relies on standard bacterial infection testing. If meningitis is not caught early enough, it can leave a child with permanent damage. A child in Alabama and his family were awarded $10 million because of a delayed diagnosis of meningitis. Because of swelling in the brain, the child experienced permanent damage that caused developmental delays, hearing loss, and seizures.

This case was likely won because meningitis is a curable disease that usually leaves no lasting impact when treated. Although it may be hard to diagnose, if a child exhibits extreme symptoms there are tests to rule out a bacterial infection, and the next step would be antibiotics if it tested positive. The hospital also discharged the child with worsening symptoms. When the child was brought to a family doctor, he was quickly diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

Contact an Orland Park Medical Malpractice Attorney

Sources:

https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/diagnosis-mishaps-top-cause-pediatric-malpractice-claims

https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/02/10_million_verdict_against_wal.html