Kidney disease can have serious consequences for a person’s life. Not only can kidney disease make you very sick, but also, in the most serious cases, it can result in death. If a medical professional caused or worsened your kidney disease due to an error or carelessness, we can help. At Arfaa Law Group, our Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys can thoroughly examine the facts of your case and determine whether malpractice took place.
Many cases of advanced kidney failure are preventable or treatable if they are properly diagnosed and treated. Kidney disease is often difficult to identify, since it can be largely asymptomatic in the early stages. As a result, kidney disease can often sneak up on a person, and sometimes it is not detected until it is too late. This is why it is imperative for a physician to be vigilant and refer you to a kidney specialist as soon as there are any signs of a potential problem, such as protein in a person’s urine.
If your doctor failed to diagnose or treat your condition, the doctor may have committed medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when medical professionals fail to provide a reasonable standard of care, and that failure results in harm to a patient. Providing a “reasonable” standard of care does not mean that the doctor has to order every possible test. Instead, the doctor must be as competent as another doctor in the same specialty would have been under the same circumstances. In order to establish malpractice, the plaintiff must show the following elements:
- The doctor owed a duty of care to the patient;
- The doctor breached the duty of care owed to the patient by failing to adhere to a reasonable standard of care; and
- The doctor’s breach resulted in a failure to diagnose the patient’s condition or put the patient in a worse position than the position in which he or she would have been had the doctor used reasonable care.
If malpractice is successfully established, the plaintiff may be able to recover economic and non-economic damages. Examples of such damages include medical costs, rehabilitation costs, lost income and benefits, pain and suffering, disability, and any other losses stemming from the malpractice. The exact amount of compensation a plaintiff will be entitled to receive will depend on the specific nature and extent of the harm suffered.
Living with a kidney issue or a disease is stressful enough, and it can be even worse if you can’t trust your doctor to care for you properly. If you suspect that medical negligence caused or led to the worsening of your kidney disease, you may be able to seek compensation for your harm. At Arfaa Law Group, our seasoned Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys have helped many Maryland residents resolve their malpractice claims and can help you as well. We understand that this is a stressful time, which is why you can expect the utmost compassion from our entire team. For more information, call 410-889-1850 or contact us online.
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