Operations and prescription drugs can save lives, but neither is without risk. Failing to advise a patient about a procedure’s potential side effects could leave a doctor or hospital responsible for severe injuries or death. If you or your loved one has been harmed in this way, our compassionate medical malpractice attorneys could advise you of your legal options should you choose to pursue a personal injury claim. Our team is experienced in handling Columbia failure-to-warn medical malpractice cases and can help you seek the justice you deserve. Contact us today.
How a Failure to Warn Can Hurt You and Your Loved Ones
A doctor or healthcare team should inform their patient of any risks before beginning a course of medication, treatment, or procedure, such as surgery or diagnostic testing. For example, older patients have higher chances of fatal complications in surgery, making it important for them to understand the risks before agreeing to undergo a procedure. Similarly, some medications cannot work together with other drugs, such as blood thinners, and patients must be made aware of such interactions.
Every medication or procedure has general risks as well. Whether or not a patient decides to proceed, they need adequate warning from their doctor. When a Columbia medical provider fails to detail the risks associated with a specific treatment or procedure, they could be held liable for resulting injuries.
When is a Doctor or Provider Liable for Failure to Warn?
Warning a patient about the risks they could face is part of the medical profession’s standard of care. If a doctor or provider fails to provide such information, and that failure caused your injury, you may have a claim for money damages.
Doctors have a duty of care to their patients, and in rare circumstances, the duty to warn may extend to others. The injured parties in one case alleged that a dialysis patient did not receive adequate warning of illness after treatment. The patient then drove away, lost control of his car, and crashed into another. The court determined that the healthcare provider could be responsible for the injuries sustained by those involved in the crash.
A Columbia attorney from Whetstone Perkins & Fulda could help you determine whether you have a failure to warn case. In doing so, our team will ask the following questions:
- Did the doctor or provider have a duty of care to you?
- Did they breach that duty by failing to warn about the risks of a medication, treatment, or procedure?
- Did that treatment injure you due to the failure to warn?
- Did you suffer losses from that injury?
If the answer is “yes” to all four questions, you could have a claim for damages.
What a Medical Malpractice Attorney Does
The seasoned attorneys from our firm have the legal and medical knowledge to find how a failure to warn led to a Columbia patient’s injury. They could review medical notes and histories to learn when and where a healthcare provider let their standards slip and administered a risky drug or treatment without proper warning.
Calculating a patient’s damages claim requires not just their medical bills but evidence of everything else they have lost, including income and wages, potential earning opportunities, and intangible losses like pain and suffering.
Talk to Our Attorneys About Your Injuries
The team at Whetstone Perkins & Fulda has decades of combined experience in holding healthcare providers accountable when they let their patients down. We want to hear from any patients who may have failure-to-warn medical malpractice cases in Columbia or the surrounding areas. Contact our office today to schedule a consultation and learn how we could help you.
