What You Should Do When You Question Your Medical Care

When you go to your doctor's office or to a hospital or urgent care clinic for medical care, you are placing a great deal of trust and confidence in the medical professionals you see. After all, they are the experts on health care and medical conditions whereas you are not. Under most circumstances, the trust that you place in your medical providers is returned with proper care and treatment so that you can heal from the illness or injury that brought you in for care. However, there are times when you may find yourself questioning whether the medical care you were provided was appropriate and whether or not the care provider was dismissive or negligent in your care. Get to know what you should do when you feel the need to question your medical care so that you can protect yourself now and in the future.

Consult With Another Doctor

First and foremost, if you feel you have been mistreated by a doctor, you should always consult with another medical professional to get their opinion. For example, if your original doctor misdiagnosed an illness and you feel they did not do all they could to rule out other causes for your symptoms, you can ask another doctor what they would have done in the same situation or what the protocol is for diagnosing a person with certain symptoms.

When you consult with another doctor, be sure that the doctor you go to is not a part of the same practice or hospital as your original doctor. Also, refrain from providing the original physician's name when you ask your questions to avoid any potential personal bias. Many doctors know one another personally or by reputation, and this background knowledge may influence their opinions.

Contact A Personal Injury Attorney

Whether you talk to another doctor or not, if you are convinced that the treatment you received was negligent and resulted in you suffering physically and/or psychologically, you should contact a personal injury attorney, like those at Gartner Law Firm, right away. A personal injury attorney will review your claims as well as your medical records from the visit (or visits) in question and help you decide if you have a case that will stand up in court.

The benefits of hiring a personal injury attorney to represent you in a medical malpractice suit are numerous. First of all, they know all of the ins and outs of medical malpractice law including how to work with doctors and their insurance companies. as well as how the court generally responds to certain types of malpractice suits.

For example, if you believe that your doctor was negligent when performing surgery on you and caused you to suffer complications after the fact -- like an infection or internal bleeding that could have been avoided -- your lawyer will be able to tell you what it would take to prove it was due to negligence rather than a common complication even when the surgery goes well.

Having a lawyer assist you in fighting such a battle will also relieve much of the pressure from you so that you do not feel alone in your situation. Oftentimes, the patient can feel as if they are persecuted in such cases only because they are not medical experts. However, with the help of a personal injury attorney, you will have the support and expertise needed to feel prepared and knowledgeable.

Now that you know some of the steps you can take if you are questioning the medical care you received, you can better protect yourself now and going forward. Remember that even though you are not a medical professional, you do have the right to express concern or dissatisfaction with the medical services provided if there is an issue.

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