What Can Happen To You?
You may know by now that medical mistakes are the third leading killer of Americans each year. According to Johns Hopkins, some estimates say that over 440,000 people die due to medical errors each year.
Today, we want to talk about what can happen if your doctor is distracted during any part of your care:
- Initial assessments
- When forming a diagnosis
- While administering care
- While writing orders or prescriptions
- And more
First, we need to discuss why a doctor might be distracted in the first place.
- Physician burnout is real and a growing concern in the US according to Harvard Medical School. Doctor burnout can cause many things to happen to doctors, affecting their enthusiasm, increased detachment, emotional exhaustion, and more. All of this can lead to them being distracted while they should be administering a high quality of patient care.
- We have all been in busy and crowded emergency departments. When the ER is busy, doctors can end up with dozens of patients at one time, all of who need to be seen and given thorough medical care. If a hospital does not properly staff a busy ER, doctors are going to be distracted by the sheer amount of work they have to do.
Distracted doctors can lead to major medical mistakes, including some of the following:
- Diagnosing errors, which Johns Hopkins researchers say are the leading cause of patient harm. Errors made when diagnosing patients can lead to delayed care or a patient being discharged before receiving proper treatment.
- Medication mistakes where a person receives the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or does not receive their medication at all.
- Patients are not being monitored properly. This can include monitoring for changes in symptoms as well as signs of infection.
What We Can Do To Help
You should be able to count on your doctor focusing on your concerns when you seek medical attention, regardless of the setting. Unfortunately, we know that distracted doctors cause injuries regularly. At Brown, Moore & Associates, PLLC, we will work to investigate your case so we can secure the compensation you deserve for all of your incident-related expenses. This can include:
- Compensation for all medical expenses related to the error(s)
- Coverage of lost income and benefits if you cannot work
- Loss of enjoyment of life damages
- Pain and suffering damages
- Punitive damages against the healthcare provider or hospital
If you need a Charlotte distracted doctor attorney, please contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling us at 800-948-0577.
