4 WAYS MALPRACTICE CAN MAKE CAR ACCIDENT INJURIES WORSE
We all know that car accidents result in injuries. With hard metals and plastics creating impact, or with your body being thrown around, harm is bound to happen. Not all harm, however, takes place at the scene of the crash. Sometimes, injuries occur through malpractice, or poor treatment from medical health professionals.
Here are four ways malpractice can make accident injuries worse or even cause new ones.
- The Doctor Misdiagnoses Your Injury.
Imagine you are in a car accident, and your head is thrown forward at a high velocity. Right after the accident, full of endorphins and adrenaline, you feel fine. The next day, however, you can barely move your head, and mobility is a problem.
You go to the doctor, and they feel your neck for a bit. They tell you that you have whiplash, but it isn’t severe. Afterward, they send you home, recommending some stretching therapies. You try the treatments they offered, but you’re not getting better. As time goes on, your neck only worsens with more stiffness and more pain. You go to another doctor, who does x-ray testing, and discover that you have a fracture in your neck.
This is an example of misdiagnosis. It can occur for any injury or any reason. Maybe the doctor made too many assumptions, or perhaps they have a history of lazy, sloppy analysis. When you are misdiagnosed, you could be damaged on two different levels. First, you could undergo treatments for a problem you don’t have, which could cause more harm than good. Second, your original problem goes untreated, allowing it to worsen over time.
- You Were Prescribed the Wrong Medication.
Anything from a clerical error to a misunderstanding of the medicine itself can lead to an incorrect prescription. Drugs carry side effects, so your body must receive the correct medicine for your ailments. Otherwise, you may suffer from unnecessary effects, suffering new injuries from the medicine. Even worse, your original injury goes untreated, allowed to become more severe.
Even when you are given the correct medication, you could be given the wrong dosage. This could result in many of the same injuries that an incorrect medicine creates. At too strong a dosage, the medicine can cause harm and create strong reactions. With too little a dosage, your ailment isn’t treated properly, and you could heal slowly or incorrectly.
Pain management is a particularly strong element of a car accident injury. Often, you are prescribed strong painkillers to lessen or eliminate hurting, allowing you an easier transition into healing. Doctors have a responsibility to check on your recovery. Part of that is making sure that you don’t develop a dependency on pain medication. If lazy, uninvolved doctors miss the signs of a growing addiction and fail to take action, this is also a form of malpractice.
- The Treatment Itself Is Poor.
Bad treatment can take place inside the office. Doctors can order the wrong tests or even the wrong treatments. This can create new injuries that you would not have sustained otherwise, and it can allow your current injuries to become more severe. Sometimes a doctor believes you are well and releases you too soon, leaving some issues untreated.
Poor treatment also takes place outside of the office. Medical professionals should give you instructions on how to heal, and they should follow up regularly. If doctors send you on your way without home treatments, and they don’t order future visits or necessary therapies, they can be held responsible for this neglect.
- There Were Errors in Surgery.
Surgery is hard on the body, even when performed perfectly. Doctors are literally invading your insides, cutting and shifting inner parts around. It requires an excellent level of skill, and surgeons cannot afford to have a bad day. Even so, mistakes do happen, and patients are left to suffer.
Sometimes a simple clerical error can yield horrifying results. Surgeons can work on the wrong part of the body or even the wrong person.
In a severe car accident, you may need to have joints replaced with artificial ones. This kind of surgery requires a lot of work. To attach a new joint, doctors must remove the damaged one. Then, they must attach the artificial joint using special screws and bolts. Many such appliances have several tiny pieces. Attached improperly, these pieces can loosen and detach, causing damage inside your body. Sometimes the surgical tools themselves are small and easily lost inside an open wound.
SEEKING JUSTICE
If you are suffering from car accident injuries, speak with a lawyer. A good attorney can use their skills and knowledge to thoroughly investigate your case. You may believe that your injuries are the result of the accident alone, but investigation could uncover malpractice. Medical professionals must operate at their full capacity, or they can cause injury. If you’ve been harmed by improper treatment, your lawyer can help you seek justice in court.
Trust our firm for help with car accident and medical malpractice injuries. We can offer you a free consultation and help you determine the origins of your damage. Call 918-492-7674 today, or reach out online.