Medical Malpractice Claims Surges up With COVID-19 Misdiagnosis
Medical malpractice claims are a result of negligence committed by healthcare professionals. This is especially common in cases where the professional’s treatment departs from accepted standards and results in harm to their patients. Medical malpractice is split into many categories with different constituting factors such as: misdiagosis, medication errors, surgical errors, birth injuries, and treatment and prevention failure. In this blog, we are going to talk about the relevance of misdiagnosis with relation to COVID-19 lab results and doctors’ verdict upon patients’ exhibition of symptoms and how is it confused with other respiratory diseases.
According to Justpoint‘s Victor Bornstein, at every moment of every spike of COVID-19 cases, there is a proportional significant increase as well in medical malpractice lawsuits filed after every 45 estimated days. He also added that the last year’s medical malpractice claims they have worked on were still COVID-19 related cases, and still continuing to increase in the present days not from mainstream hospitals where COVID-19 patients are rushed and get medical care as needed but within nursing homes as well where old people are proven to be susceptible from the rusk of the virus. The recent passage of COVID legislation has created a legal chaos, as there are new laws in some states that protect healthcare professionals from lawsuits and currently no similar law exists in other states. The result is an uncertain future for both doctors who will be sued by patients with COD related conditions and the victims themselves. He also stated how Ohio and Massachusetts possess the highest COVID-19 related test results law suits and Pennsylvania as having the lowest numbers in the matter. 
This high number is believed to be caused by confusion and misdiagnosis where doctors interchange and suspect respiratory disease with another such as COVID-19 since they show similar symptoms where:
Both COVID-19 and Influenza viruses and regular human seasonal flu share common signs like:
- Fever or feeling feverish/having chills
- CoughShortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headache
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Change in or loss of taste or smell, (although this is more frequent with COVID-19)
In another observations, their similarities are; COVID-19 and flu can pass between when a person becomes infected and when he or she starts to experience illness symptoms in a day or after. While their differences are; If you have the virus for C0VID-19 it could take longer than if they had the flu before their body exhibits any signs of infection. In flu, symptoms are experienced within the week of contact with the virus while COVID-19 exhibits symptoms after 2 weeks.
What Can a Patient do After Being Victimized by Misdiagnosis And Caused Damages?
A patient can sue the doctor for medical malpractice. The process of suing a physician is not an easy one, but it’s possible with patience and knowledge on your side. To win this case you will have to prove that there was misdiagnosis which led to damages in some way like health problems or emotional trauma – if so, then go ahead and contact a lawyer today. After being victimized by misdiagnosis and caused damages, what can a patient do? Some patients find that claiming against the medical institution for negligence is helpful. They may be able to get reimbursement from their insurance company or file suit on behalf of themselves if they have not already done so with a lawyer’s help. Ryan Injury Lawyers is an Ohio based injury attorneys that represent victims with medical malpractice claims to grant them their compensation pay. Call our offices now for free consultation.