If you were injured after medical treatment, you may be eligible to make a medical negligence claim. If you are involved in a medical negligence case, or are considering it, you will need solid legal support – contact Vanessa Ash.

     This covers:

• Surgery
• Misdiagnosis
• Medication errors
• Childbirth-related mistakes
• Death of infants, stillborn
• Product failure
• Cerebral palsy (medical error)
• Anaesthetic mistakes
• Medical procedures in other countries

You must prove that your healthcare provider was negligent, and that an error led to your injury. The injuries must be significant, and related to the negligence.

     Neonatal deaths/stillborn
If your baby was stillborn or died shortly after birth due to negligence, a claim may be able to be made for pain and suffering (psychological injury) to you and family members. Loss of past and future earnings, plus counselling, may also be part of the claim. You can also claim for the funeral costs of the baby. You have a time limit of three years for psychological injury, and six years for negligent care.

     Surgery errors
If something avoidable occurs during or after surgery, a negligence claim may be made. Errors that sometimes occur may be operating on the wrong part of the body, unnecessary surgery, leaving equipment (clamps, scissors) inside a patient, incomplete removal of a growth or body part, or damage incurred during surgery. You must be able to show that the issue was due to the mistake and that the error caused harm.

     Misdiagnosis
Being medically misdiagnosed must result in injury, and it must be proved that the practitioner has failed in some way beyond just missing the diagnosis.

     Medication/prescription errors
If the wrong medication is prescribed or the wrong medication is given to the patient, harm can occur. This may occur due to the doctor misprescribing, or from a pharmacist giving the wrong medication across the counter. Someone may have misread handwriting or a bad medical decision may have been made. The injury must be significant for medical negligence to have been proved.

     Childbirth injury or death
There are a few instances where misjudgement on the behalf of the staff delivery a baby can have adverse outcomes, for example injury to the mother or baby, or death of the mother or baby. This can be in terms of how the baby is delivered, responding to signs and symptoms, or causing damage to the baby or mother during delivery. It can also relate to what occurs after the birth, for example not removing the whole placenta, causing bleeding. To prove negligence, you must prove that the medical practitioner was at fault, but also that the mistake was injurious.

     Anaesthetic mistakes
Errors when administering anaesthetic occur. This can mean the patient has too much or not enough anaesthetic during surgery or treatment, or it has been injected into the wrong area. For a claim to be made, it must be proved that the medical practitioner was negligent but also that the mistake caused harm.

Write your own story. Call Vanessa Ash and Associates today.