Holding Providers Accountable for Harmful Treatment
Being diagnosed with cancer is often a devastating and overwhelming experience. Patients trust healthcare providers to receive the best possible treatment options, including chemotherapy. Unfortunately, errors can occur when administering chemotherapy agents, access sites, and dosage amounts. These errors can result in serious harm, injury, or death to patients. Patients need to know their rights and understand the legal options available if they have suffered harm due to medical negligence related to chemotherapy.
What Is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence and malpractice are legal terms used when healthcare providers do not provide medical care that meets an established standard. There are four elements to prove medical negligence: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
In the context of chemotherapy errors, this means that an oncology healthcare provider has a duty to provide a standard of care when administering chemotherapy drugs to patients. If they breach that duty by making an error, it results in harm that damages the patient. The harm experienced by the patient must be directly related to the negligence or malpractice of the healthcare provider to be considered medical negligence.
Examples of Chemotherapy Errors
Many types of chemotherapy errors can result in harm to patients. Administering the incorrect dose or drug are two examples. Other errors include:
- Administering chemotherapy to the wrong location.
- Failing to monitor the patient for reactions.
- Not obtaining informed consent.
These chemotherapy treatment errors can be detrimental to a patient's health and well-being.
While errors can occur despite the best efforts of healthcare professionals, it is important to understand that patients have the legal right to hold providers accountable for their negligent actions.
The Role of a Medical Malpractice Attorney
If a patient is pursuing a medical negligence or malpractice case for chemotherapy errors, they will need to retain the services of an experienced attorney who specializes in this type of litigation. A good attorney will guide the patient through the legal process, which may include obtaining medical records and documentation, retaining expert witnesses, negotiating a settlement, or taking the case to court. By partnering with an experienced attorney, patients have a better chance of obtaining compensation for their injuries.
Recoverable Damages
The damages that can be awarded in a medical negligence or malpractice case related to chemotherapy errors can include but are not limited to:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Future medical need
It is critical that patients seek compensation for their injuries, as cancer treatment can be extremely expensive, and patients should not have to bear the burden of additional medical costs and long-term effects resulting from medical negligence.
Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Medical negligence and malpractice cases related to chemotherapy errors are complex. Still, justice can and should be sought to ensure that medical negligence errors are not repeated in the future, and other patients do not similarly suffer the consequences of harmful treatment.
At Simonson Goodman Platzer PC, we have a long, proven track record of success. Our attorneys have successfully recovered compensation in 98% of the cases we have handled and have secured more than $200 million in both settlements and verdicts.
Call (800) 817-5029 or submit a free online case evaluation form to get started.