What are the Medical Malpractice Concerns when Treating a Dog Bite Injury?

Experienced Attorney

Medical malpractice is a legal description for cases in which a healthcare provider misdiagnoses or improperly treats a patient. As a result of the healthcare provider’s negligence, the patient must cope with the original injury from the dog attack, as well as the issues or conditions that were otherwise avoidable but for the physician’s mistake. The person may suffer far more from the complications than they did from the original dog bite injury. It may require hiring a personal injury law to recover damages from dog owner as well as from the healthcare provider.

Medical Malpractice while Treating a Dog Bite Injury

In the scenario of a dog bite attack, a doctor may not correctly diagnose the nature or severity of the victim’s injuries, or they may not diagnose the patient at all. A more extreme example is a traumatic brain injury that results from a dog bite attack and which the doctor does not recognize or diagnose. As a result, the patient does not receive the critical and immediate care that they need. When nearly any type of serious injury is left untreated, it can lead to extreme pain, the inability to function in daily life or at work, the loss of memory, emotional instability, and personality changes. If this describes your circumstances, your personal injury lawyer may have already told you that the cost of medical treatment could be included in your claim against the dog’s owner.

Medical malpractice takes many forms, even when it comes to dog bite injuries. Here are several common examples:

·         The doctor does not diagnose one or more lacerations to the gums from the dog attack. As a result, a serious infection develops that if left undetected can become life-threatening. The bacteria that is present in a dog’s saliva can wreak havoc when the human body is exposed to it through an open wound.

·         The doctor does not prescribe antibiotics though the patient’s condition warrants it, and another doctor with a reasonable level of skill would prescribe them under the same circumstances. As a result, a serious infection develops that if left undetected can become life-threatening.

·         The doctor does not inform the patient that they must come back for follow-up visits in order to monitor their recovery process. As a result, complications develop that the patient does not recognize as such until they have significantly progressed, causing additional health concerns.

·         The doctor prescribes a form of antibiotics that cause a severe and life-threatening reaction by the patient, even though the patient had specified on their intake form that they are allergic to that type of antibiotic. The patient then suffers anaphylactic shock in response to the medication. Without immediate medical attention, they may die.

·         During a cosmetic procedure to reverse the facial damage caused by the dog attack, the surgeon slips with their knife and mistakenly removes tissue or an appendage, or damages an area of the body.

If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you may benefit from speaking to an attorney, like a dog bite lawyer from Johnston Martineau, LLP, about your rights to compensation from the at-fault parties.