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Florida Personal Injury Lawyers / Port St. Lucie Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Port St. Lucie Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Most drivers and property owners have a duty of reasonable care. This duty is based on the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) which American schoolchildren once had to memorize. Lawyers, accountants, doctors, and other such professionals have a fiduciary duty. They must set aside all other concerns and only focus on what is best for their clients or patients. Unfortunately, many Florida doctors do not live up to these high expectations.

The compassionate Port St. Lucie medical malpractice lawyers at Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather understand the betrayal that these victims feel. It is sometimes hard to move on when one is burdened with this kind of intense pain and suffering, to say nothing of the staggering cost of revision surgery and other medical expenses. We cannot turn back the clock and reverse the injury. But we can work hard to obtain the compensation you need and deserve.

Injuries During Birth

During the lead-up to delivery, a fiduciary duty requires doctors to look for warning signs of problems and take appropriate action. This area includes issues like shoulder dystocia. SD occurs if a baby is not small enough to float down a mothers birth canal. If that happens, the umbilical cord often wraps around the baby’s neck and causes hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain). Hypoxia could cause cerebral palsy, a form of brain damage, in less than five minutes.

If the doctor did not properly address SD risks, the doctor often makes poor decisions when the clock is ticking and the pressure is on. These decisions usually include risky birth interventions like:

  • Episiotomy: Doctors sometimes make dangerous incisions on the mothers perineum (area between the anus and genitals) in an effort to widen the mothers birth canal. These incisions often cause uncontrollable and dangerous blood loss, during and after the delivery.

  • Vacuum Extractor: Some doctors attach a surgical vacuum to a baby’s head and literally try to suck the infant out of the mother. This additional force often causes permanent brain injuries which are almost as bad as cerebral palsy.

  • Forceps: Other doctors use an instrument which resembles surgical salad tongs to pull a stuck baby out of a mother. These devices first appeared in the 1600s and have not been substantially modified or upgraded since then. The squeezing motion often causes internal and external head injuries.

Cerebral palsy is not degenerative, so it never gets worse. Unfortunately, it never gets better either. So, these families face a lifetime of high medical bills and heartache.

Medical Misdiagnosis

Doctors also have a responsibility to properly and promptly diagnose patients. Largely due to a lack of information, misdiagnosis is common. Most doctors only listen to their patients for a few seconds. Furthermore, many doctors do not order a full battery of diagnostic tests. As a result, many serious illnesses are misdiagnosed. Examples include:

  • Head Injuries: Many accident victims do not have signature head injury symptoms, such as vomiting and unconsciousness. As a result, many doctors misdiagnose head injuries as shock from the accident or another relatively minor problem.

  • Cancer: To many doctors, cancer is a genetic or lifestyle disease. If the patient has no family history of cancer or does not engage in risky behavior, few doctors consider cancer as a possibility.

  • Heart Disease: This area combines both problems. Many victims do not have signature symptoms. For example, many heart attack patients do not have severe chest pains. Furthermore, unless the patient has certain risk factors, most doctors dismiss the possibility of heart disease.

Experts believe that about 20 percent of cases are misdiagnosed. The serious injury rate is extremely high in these cases.

Consult with an Experienced Port St. Lucie Medical Malpractice Attorney

Medical mistakes often cause serious injuries. For a free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Port St. Lucie, contact Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather Injury Lawyers. You have a limited amount of time to act.