Dr. malpractice

[ivana1937]

I went to the emergency room with rectal bleeding, was admited,examined the next day by a colon specialist who diagnosed diverticular disease. Three hours later I was on the hospital floor having bled so severely I passed out. More tests revealed I had a bleeding ulcer. I spent 3 days in intensive care & received 7 pints of blood. I thought I was going to die & underwent severe mental & emotional distress,as did my family.Should the Dr. have been so confident in his initial diagnosis that he performed no further tests after the colon exam? Is he guilty of malpractice?

 

[Tracey]

You need to talk to another doctor and ask him/her if the misdiagnosis was so bad as to constitute malpractice. However, you will have difficulty proving damages. You are only entitled to reimbursement for expenses/anguish you would not have incurred if the MD had diagnosed you correctly 3 hours earlier. My guess is that you would have experienced the same hemorrage & ICU visit & blood transfusions even if the diagnosis had come earlier. I doubt 3 hours was enough time to schedule & perform surgery to fix the ulcer and avoid the ICU.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.