Many Texas residents receive medical care through the military. Service members and their families usually receive their medical and health care at hospitals, clinics or medical centers operated by the military members or those employed by the government.
If you are a military member who experiences medical malpractice at one of these facilities, you have a right to compensation under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other medical provider provides negligent care. Negligent care is behavior that falls below the level of health care you should reasonably expect and that is appropriate compared to other health care providers.
There are many types of medical malpractice claims filed by military members. Common examples include:
- Birth injuries
- Failure to diagnose
- Medication errors
- Surgical errors
Birth injury is injury or damage to a child before, during or after birth. Many birth injuries result in birth trauma, which is long-term or permanent damage to an infant. Injuries to the mother caused by negligence are also considered medical malpractice.
Failure to diagnose refers to a doctor failing to recognize your symptoms as evidence of a serious medical condition.
Why failure to diagnose is so serious
For example, if you go to your doctor and describe your symptoms and are told you have a normal illness that should clear up in a few weeks, but another doctor later determines these symptoms to be evidence of cancer, you could have a claim for failure to diagnose.
One reason failure to diagnose is medical malpractice is because by the time the real condition is discovered, it could be too late to prevent harm or even death. In the above example, perhaps your cancer was at stage one when you first went to a doctor, but by the time you were properly diagnosed, it was stage four and your chance of survival was now lower.
Misdiagnosis is similar to failure to diagnose and another common medical malpractice claim filed by military members. Misdiagnosis involves diagnosing you with an incorrect condition due to misreading or misinterpreting medical results or failing to take proper steps to diagnose a condition.
Medication errors
Medication errors occur when you are prescribed the wrong or incorrect dosage of a medication. They can be the fault of the doctor prescribing the medication, the pharmacy filling the wrong prescription or anyone involved in the process whose mistake leads to you receiving the wrong medication.
The consequences of a medication error can be more serious than you think. Many medications have major side effects, especially when mixed with other medications.
Surgical errors
There are various types of surgical errors that can happen before, during or after surgery. Failing to remove a tool after a procedure or operating on the wrong body part are examples of surgical errors.
Military members who are victims of medical malpractice deserve compensation for the harm they experience and the negligent parties should be held accountable.
Proving medical malpractice is challenging and requires you to build a strong, organized and coherent case. Support and guidance through the legal process can increase your chance of receiving the compensation you need to get through this tough time.