Not all injuries you sustain after an accident may be immediately visible. Some of the most dangerous ones, like organ damage and internal bleeding, are not usually apparent.
Because there is always a chance of sustaining wounds that could be missed right after an accident, medical professionals must take steps to rule out serious injuries.
If you or a loved one suffered an injury that led to internal bleeding and a medical professional failed to spot it, this missed diagnosis could mean that you have a claim for medical malpractice.
The Seriousness of an Internal Bleeding Missed Diagnosis
Internal bleeding is blood loss that occurs from broken blood vessels. This blood then collects inside the body. The bleeding can begin slowly and get worse over time, or it could be brisk and put you at life-threatening risk immediately after it occurs.
Symptoms of internal bleeding can include:
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Confusion
Internal bleeding that continues unchecked can cause loss of consciousness, seizures, and hypovolemic shock. Once this occurs, there is a limited amount of time to halt the bleeding before the person dies.
What Leads to an Internal Bleeding Misdiagnosis?
An internal bleeding misdiagnosis can occur as a result of a few types of errors.
Failure to Conduct Appropriate Diagnostic Tests
If you’ve been in an accident, a medical professional should check for internal bleeding even if you state that you feel fine. They must perform a few key diagnostic tests and may order imaging studies. A failure to order the right assessments can lead to a failure to diagnose the condition, and therefore a misdiagnosis of the bleeding.
Incorrect Interpretation of Diagnostic Test Results
Ordering the right tests is not enough. Your healthcare provider must accurately spot signs of internal bleeding in the results and begin immediate treatment. If they don’t interpret the data correctly, that could lead to delays in diagnosing the bleeding.
Failure to Accurately Assess Patient Status
During a medical examination after an accident, a healthcare provider must assess your overall status. This requires examining you and looking for signs of confusion or other cognitive issues. If they don’t perform this step, they could miss bruising or dizziness, which are telltale signs of internal bleeding.
Can You Begin a Missed Diagnosis Claim for Injuries that You Have Sustained?
Not all instances of failure to detect internal bleeding are necessarily malpractice. In cases when another medical professional in the same situation would also have missed signs of this issue, your claim may not be viable.
You can begin a case if what you or a loved one suffered was preventable. If the medical professional provided substandard care, for instance, that could be grounds to initiate a medical malpractice claim.
Although California does not require that you file an affidavit of merit when beginning a medical malpractice claim, you will still need expert witness testimony to demonstrate that other providers would not have similarly missed the diagnosis.
Additionally, you must ensure you comply with the statute of limitations, which means that you should hire an attorney as quickly as possible once you discover the error.
An attorney will know how to gather the pertinent evidence to demonstrate that malpractice occurred. They will be able to identify the liable parties, too, since there could be more than one. The immediate health care provider is frequently responsible, however, if they are an employee of a hospital or clinic, the facility could be liable as well.
Your lawyer will also know how to calculate your full losses, including your non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Having an attorney will mean being able to aggressively negotiate on your behalf for fair compensation.
If it isn’t possible to obtain a settlement, your lawyer can pursue litigation to help you receive compensation. That is not an option you should ever pursue without legal assistance.
Trusting Reputable Medical Malpractice Lawyers After a Doctor Fails to Diagnose Internal Bleeding
Dealing with the aftermath of accidents is difficult, but suffering further injuries because the medical professional in charge of your care was negligent can make everything more complicated. By trusting experienced and reputable attorneys to represent your claim, you have a chance to recover your losses.
At The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., our team understands the complexities of these cases. Our leading attorney is a licensed medical doctor as well as a lawyer, so he is able to offer clear insight into all kinds of malpractice claims. This improves your chances of succeeding.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident and sustained internal bleeding that a doctor did not catch when they should have, you don’t have to go through this process alone. Contact our team to schedule a free case assessment.