Austin Medical Malpractice Attorney
We place a considerable amount of trust in our medical care providers. Our lives and our well-being are in their hands, and in most cases they handle this responsibility with an extremely high level of professionalism. Our law firm, based in Austin, TX, handles medical malpractice cases to hold those in the medical field to this high level of professionalism, and to hold them responsible for negligent actions.
Medical malpractice is defined as the failure of a healthcare provider to meet the standard of good medical practice in the field in which he or she practices. That healthcare provider may be a doctor, HMO, hospital, nurse, or another individual or group licensed to provide medical treatment or care, and unfortunately the consequences of these failures often lead to serious long-term effects for both the patient and their loved ones. Examples of medical malpractice may include medication and pharmacy errors, hospital mistakes, hospital nursing errors, mistakes by a doctor, surgical errors, and misdiagnosis.
Medication and Pharmacy Errors
There are over 1.3 million reports of medication and pharmacy errors every year, accounting for almost 100,000 deaths a year. Medication errors are the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Examples of pharmacy errors include: filling the prescription with the wrong dosage, filling the prescription with the wrong medication, providing incorrect usage directions, allowing technicians to perform the responsibilities of a pharmacist, incorrect labeling, failing to check for potential drug interactions, and failing to adequately counsel the patient. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed through suspected medication and pharmacy errors, or pharmacy malpractice, please contact an attorney at Metcalfe Law immediately.
Hospital Mistakes
The Center for Disease Prevention estimates that nearly 2 million people in the U.S. become infected through hospital mistakes every year. Along with infection, common hospital mistakes include prescription errors, childbirth mishaps, surgical errors, and failing to diagnose an illness or condition. These are serious mishaps, with life-altering consequences, and if you or a loved one has suffered from a hospital mistake, contact an Austin-based attorney at Metcalfe Law for a free and confidential consultation about a possible medical malpractice claim.
Hospital Nursing Errors
Nurses are expected to be the “safety net” for the patient, and when they make a mistake it can often have unalterable consequences. Hospital nursing errors are commonly the result of one or more of the following factors: the nurse is distracted, overworked, careless, undertrained, or simply uncaring, and common hospital nursing errors include failing to follow a physicians’ orders, failing to notify a physician of a change in condition, medication errors, surgical mistakes, failing to diagnose or treat in a timely manner, misusing a medical device, and negligence during child delivery leading to birth injuries. Contact Metcalfe Law for a free and confidential consultation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed through a suspected hospital nursing error.
Surgical Errors
Every surgery involves a certain degree of risk, but a patient should never suffer as a result of negligence on the part of a doctor, surgeon or anesthesiologist. Surgical errors include infection due to improper antiseptic practices, performing the wrong surgical procedure, performing surgery on the wrong patient, performing surgery on the wrong site, injuring organs, blood vessels, and nerves, and the failure monitor a patient’s recovery. Contact an Austin-based attorney at Metcalfe Law for any case involving a surgical error, and receive a free and confidential consultation.
Misdiagnosis
Modern medical technologies allow doctors to provide early diagnoses and effective treatments to patients for illnesses that several years ago would have gone unnoticed for much longer periods. Cancer, strokes, and heart attacks can be treated successfully, but the proper tools must be used and doctors must properly review all of the test results. Metcalfe Law holds the medical field accountable for delayed diagnosis that limits treatment options and negligent misdiagnosis that results in either mistreatment or a lack in treatment altogether. Misdiagnosis can be a failure on the part of a doctor, nurse, lab, radiologist, or poor hospital policies and procedures, and misdiagnosis can occur from many actions or inactions including failure to order the appropriate diagnostic tests, a failure to review and interpret the data correctly, or a failure to refer the patient to a specialist.
Metcalfe Law carefully examines every potential medical malpractice case that we receive. Contact us for a free and confidential consultation.