If your medical condition worsened because your doctor failed to refer you to a specialist, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
You may have a case if your condition got worse due to your doctor failing to refer you to a specialist. All doctors, health care providers, and medical facilities have a duty of care to act in their patient’s best interest. Often, it is in a patient’s best interest to receive treatment from someone who specializes in a certain condition or type of medicine.
A medical malpractice lawyer from Newsome | Melton can help you pursue medical malpractice damages against the doctor who failed to refer you, causing you not to receive the treatment you needed and your condition to worsen. We can help you recover compensatory damages for the harm you have suffered. For a free consultation and case evaluation with a member of our team, call us today at 888-261-5614.
Your Doctor’s Duty to Refer You to a Specialist
The prognosis for recovery from a severe medical condition often relies on how quickly the ailment gets diagnosed and whether the patient receives prompt and proper treatment. The longer a condition lays dormant in a patient’s body, without receiving treatment, the more severe it becomes and the more difficult it is to cure.
Not all doctors are equipped to handle all medical situations. That is why the field of medicine is subdivided into dozens of specialties. A family doctor likely cannot remove a cancerous tumor or prescribe chemotherapy, for instance. But an oncologist or a surgeon specializing in the area of the body housing the tumor can. Your doctor’s duty of care is to recognize when you need to see a specialist and to refer you to one.
Consequences of Not Referring a Patient to a Specialist
When a doctor fails to refer a patient to a specialist, the patient can suffer harm in several ways. These include:
- The patient’s injury or illness worsens because they were not able to receive treatment from a specialist equipped to address the condition.
- The condition gets misdiagnosed because the doctor evaluating the patient’s symptoms is not familiar enough with that area of medicine.
- The doctor fails to diagnose the condition for the same reason.
- The doctor makes the correct diagnosis but does not administer the most optimal treatment protocol.
Any of the above situations may qualify as medical malpractice if a reasonable physician facing the same circumstances would have referred the patient to a specialist. At Newsome | Melton, our medical malpractice lawyers can investigate your case and determine where your doctor’s actions fell short. We can collect evidence and build a compelling narrative showing that by failing to refer you to a specialist, your doctor committed medical malpractice.
To start the process today with a free medical malpractice case evaluation with a member of our team, call us today at 888-261-5614.
You May Be Eligible to Recover Substantial Compensation for Your Medical Malpractice Damages
If despite clear evidence that you needed the care of a specialist, your doctor failed to refer you to one, causing your condition to worsen, you may qualify for a host of medical malpractice damages.
A lawyer from Newsome | Melton can help you receive compensation for both the economic and non-economic damages you have incurred because of your doctor’s negligence.
Your medical malpractice settlement may include money for:
- Medical expenses: These include the expense of treating your condition above and beyond what it would have cost had you received timely care from a specialist. It also includes all anticipated future costs of treatment.
- Lost wages: If you have had to miss work because of your condition or its treatment, we can pursue your doctor and any other responsible party for compensation to make up for the income you have missed out on.
- Reduced earning capacity: If your capacity to make a living is reduced on a long-term basis, we can pursue your doctor for the difference in what you are able to earn going forward and what you would have been able to earn had you received proper treatment for your condition.
- Pain and suffering and inconvenience: You are eligible for compensation for the physical and emotional pain and discomfort you have endured because of your condition, and we help you fight for this money.
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