Be Proactive About Your Healthcare — You Can Help to Avoid Medical Malpractice and Injury

We rely on our doctors to take good care of us and to monitor and manage our healthcare.  They generally do a wonderful job for us, and we depend on them in many ways.  But we also bear a responsibility to be proactive about our healthcare.  That is why it is so important that you make sure to obtain the results of all laboratory and pathology tests and radiological examinations that you undergo.

And as a medical malpractice attorney who has seen many horror stories over the years, it is best to be an advocate for yourself and not depend totally on your healthcare providers.  By being proactive, you actually assist your healthcare providers in doing a better job in taking care of you.  Do not wait for them to make a mistake or to allow a condition to continue without notifying your healthcare provider.  Ask plenty of questions and do not procrastinate in making  your concerns known.

In a study reported in The Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers studying the office procedures of primary care physicians found evidence that more than seven percent of clinically significant findings were never reported to the patient.  This should tell you that if you have blood work drawn, you have a mammogram, you have a chest x-ray, you have a colonoscopy – you must follow-up with your doctor several weeks following the procedure if you have not received the results of those tests.  And we all know why.  Some cancers are slow growing while others are aggressive.  As a result, timely diagnosis can mean the difference between successful treatment and Stage IV cancer.

Just because you do not hear back from your doctor about recent test results does not mean that “no news is good news.”  Be proactive and involved in your healthcare.  It’s your responsibility, too!

Altizer & Altizer: Your Legal Team for Southwest Virginia

You know, from visting our website, that our attorneys, Bettina C. Altizer and Jack Vernon Altizer, handle car accident cases and medical malpractice cases, to name a few personal injury areas of the law, for Roanoke and the surrounding areas.  But we also serve clients in Bedford, Smith Mountain Lake, Lynchburg, Covington, Harrisonburg, Rocky Mount, Martinsville, Botetourt County, Blacksburg, and all areas surronding the Roanoke Valley.  Keep us in mind if you need a personal injury lawyer to serve you and  your family and friends.  You can contact Altizer & Altizer at (540)345-2000 or toll free at (800)310-5777.

Medical Malpractice ~ Another Definition

Standard of care is important in medical malpractice  cases.  One might say that the standard of care is, if you like latin and you want to impress someone, the sine qua non in medical malpractice cases.  This means that the standard of care and its proof are essential and is that without which the case fails.  Think of it this way. Consider a building code that sets forth the legal requirements for plumbing, electrical, and construction.  These legal requirements must be met to be in compliance with the law.

As the building code must be followed, so must the standard of care be established by proof as it sets forth the procedure to be followed by doctors in any given medical situation whether it be an amputation, a knee replacement, or the birth of your son or daughter.  There must be a breach of the  standard of care either by doing something that is not required, a commission, or by failing to do something that is required, an omission.  And one thing more—   there must be evidence of causation, that is, there must be evidence that the breach of the standard of care was the cause of injury.  Once the standard of care is established by a medical expert with causation of injury proven, a lawyer must then evaluate the nature and extent of injury and determine the type and amount of  monetary damages.

We can assist you with the evaluation of your potential medical malpractice claim.  Call us at Altizer & Altizer at (540)345-2000.

~Jack V. Altizer