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Instances of Grievous Carelessness on the Part of Doctors

"clinical negligence"Any kind of professional negligence is a grievous offense, and it doesn’t get worse than the case of callousness on the part of medical professionals. If you have been the victim of such a situation, it is of the utmost importance that you file a claim for medical negligence compensation. On the other hand, you should also keep in mind that while you can always file a claim for compensation independently, it is not a very smart thing to do. You should always take the help of a professional who is experienced in the field of medical negligence. On the other hand, you also need to keep in mind that you just cannot take the help of any professional who works as a personal injury lawyer. It is of the utmost importance to make sure that you get a legal professional who specialises in the field of medical negligence in order to represent your case in the court.

Some Stupendous Mistakes

Cases of clinical negligence are not at all unheard of; in fact, the number of cases filed every year in the United Kingdom points at a pretty alarmingly large figure. Listed below are a few of the most horrific cases that ever happened in the country, courtesy some incredibly callous medical professionals.

Inadequate Risk Assessment: In a terrible example of incorrect risk assessment, a female patient was admitted to the hospital for an operation, and developed pressure sores as a result. While negotiating her chances of being operated on successfully, the doctors had understood that she already had the risk of getting the pressure sores; what they had not taken into account was the fact that she also suffered from neuropathy and type-2 diabetes, which made her a lot more susceptible to getting the sores. The saga of negligence does not end here either; the patient was not taken care of in the proper manner, and was sent home with a pretty significant sore that finally spread to her bones. As a consequence of the same, the patient had to be taken to the hospital yet again.

Healthy Limb Amputated: In yet another example of terrible negligence, the surgeons operated on the wrong foot of a patient, thus causing him to lose that foot; the surgeons had realised that they were operating on the other, healthy foot, but it was already too late and they had to take the best course of action they could at that point of time: amputate the limb completely. Thankfully, Mr Willie King, the patient, sought the help of medical negligence solicitors and was awarded a compensation. However, it must be said that no matter how much money is given as compensation, it does not really ever take away the pain and trauma that the patient has to undergo.

Ignoring Vital Signs: Another heartbreaking example of clinical negligence took place in the case of the elderly Sherman Sizemore when the surgeons failed to realise that the patient they were operating on was actually conscious in the middle of the surgery. The condition, medically termed anaesthetic awareness, is characterised by the patient being awake during the operation but unable to intimate the doctors of the situation because of the inability to move or speak. However, that does not stop the patient from feeling the pain of the lacerations, and vital signs do show that he or she is awake, something that ought to be read by the surgeons themselves. In this particular scenario, however, the doctors had completely failed to understand what was going on until 16 minutes into the surgery. Although necessary measures were taken after the situation came into light, the patient committed suicide two weeks later, something that his family blamed on the traumatic incident at the hospital.

Healthy Artery Bypassed: In a near-fatal accidental mistake, a patient suffered through a bypass surgery on his heart. The surgeons had taken all the necessary precautions and had completed the surgery without a glitch, only to find that they had bypassed the healthy artery instead of the clogged one. As a result, the patient had to be admitted yet once more to the hospital for the purpose of recovering the damaged artery and bypass the clogged one. The hospital was sued in the aftermath of the incident and the patient- with the help of a legal professional- was awarded a considerable sum as compensation.

Botched Brain Surgery: In some cases, the damage inflicted on the person is so great that no amount of compensation can really repair the situation, and this is particularly true if the mistake is made by surgeons operating on the brain. Unfortunately, such incidents are not at all unheard of, and certain cases are all the more devastating. In one particular instance, the surgeons lacerated into the wrong portion of the brain- not once, but three times- without realising their mistake. In yet another heart rendering case, a patient succumbed to the injuries inflicted upon his brain by the surgeons, who failed to operate on the right side despite having at hand the scan reports that clearly showed a different region in the brain to be bleeding.

In Conclusion…

A case of clinical negligence is particularly grave because of the impact such a situation has on the victims. The worst part is not just the fact that a careless doctor or nurse can bring about an untimely death to the patient; by injuring the patient, the errant professionals also take into the radius of their mistake the near and dear ones of the victim. The claim of compensation in a case of clinical negligence can be settled in two ways: by taking the case to court and contending through a trial, or by opting for an out of court settlement. You can take either step as per your convenience; however, make sure that you are choosing the right course of action. If you are not that certain as to what you should be doing in such a situation, leave the decision to the judgment of the attorney representing you. Before anything else, however, do make sure that you have chosen the right solicitor to help you through the trial.

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