Medical malpractice carries with it far more than physical repercussions and can have life-altering impacts on a person's mental and emotional health. Too often overlooked, the long-term psychological effects of medical malpractice can cause extreme distress and take a financial toll due to the necessary counseling required to help individuals cope with their traumas and find ways to manage their dealing with the incident.
Often people feel that something is wrong with them for feeling so deeply about what happened, when in reality this response is extremely common--particularly for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to inaccurate diagnoses or incorrect treatments. It is understandable for trauma caused by medical malpractice to deeply affect an individual's day-to-day life and requires proper treatment in order to get back on track.
What Trauma Stems from Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice can have devastating life-altering consequences. Many patients suffer physical and psychological trauma after being affected by someone else's negligence or carelessness, with the resulting medical bills and pain often leading to financial, emotional, and social stress.
Trauma stemming from medical malpractice takes on many forms, such as instances of prenatal harm caused by drugs or procedures that were unnecessary or carried out incorrectly, birth injuries inflicted due to a lack of skilled obstetricians, incorrect diagnosis results that could shrink life expectancy or lead to later misdiagnosis, mistreatment during anesthesia or surgery lapses in medical judgment that lead to a worsened condition.
Patients who are victims of medical malpractice may suffer long-term mental health issues such as post traumatic stress disorder or depression from their experience. In cases of death caused by malpractice the family left behind will go through extreme grief and loss accompanied with the long-term effects of feeling like justice was not served.
Seeking Compensation for Emotional Damages
Insurance companies can be difficult to deal with when seeking compensation for emotional damages that result from medical malpractice. It is important to ensure the injury is documented and properly diagnosed in order to prove that a person's emotional distress was caused by their medical care.
If a case is brought to court, it will be evaluated on both the legal aspects, such as whether the doctor performed below the accepted standards of care, as well as whether any causal link exists between their conduct and any resulting emotional distress. With a proper legal team and sufficient evidence, individuals may be able to gain financial compensation for damages related to psychological suffering caused by medical malpractice.
Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP is here and ready to help. Call us today at (216) 600-0114!