What to do about a potential case for medical malpractice?
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What to do about a potential case for medical malpractice?
My mother has been complaining of pain for the past 10 years to the same doctor. The doctor’s only remedy was to prescribe her pain killers causing her to become addictive and completely missing her cancer until it was too late (Stage 5). In fact my mother had to be sent to the ER for her to discover that she even had cancer. Do we have a case to stop this doctor from this kind of patient harm? Should we speak with a medical malpractice attorney? In Salt Lake City, UT.
Asked on January 31, 2011 under Malpractice Law, Utah
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
I am so sorry for you and for your Mother's situation. What you have is known as a failure to diagnose case and yes, you should indeed seek out the help of a medical malpractice attorney in order to determine if in fact you will have a case against the doctor. It is my understanding that a failure to diagnose case is a difficult one to prove in medical malpractice. And medical malpractice cases in general are difficult, with some states requiring that you obtain a doctor's affidavit that what happened in the matter was against the usual standards in the medical field. Not easy in and of itself. Good luck to you all.
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