Spinal cord injuries can very easily change the course of someone’s life. They may not be able to pursue their chosen profession anymore. Their relationships and even their living circumstances will likely change as well. In some cases, mild improvement is possible with an incomplete injury, but most people experience permanent medical consequences after a spinal cord injury.
The worse the injury is, the greater the financial, professional and social impact it will have. Some people have stable, incomplete spinal cord injuries initially after they fall or get into a car crash. However, their injury may worsen due to secondary trauma or movement.
Occasionally, spinal cord injuries end up completed or exacerbated by medical professionals who are entrusted to provide trauma care to an affected individual. Failing to properly diagnose and treat a spinal cord injury could be an actionable type of medical malpractice under such circumstances.
Professionals should follow best practices
Paramedics and other professionals responding to an emergency situation generally know that they should always evaluate people for signs of back and spinal cord injuries before providing any amount of care. Even just moving someone could be enough to worsen their injury in certain cases. Therefore, it is typically necessary to stabilize anyone who is experienced violent trauma or a significant fall. Improper stabilization might lead to someone worsening their injury during transit to a medical facility. Of course, to receive the right treatment to prevent the injury from getting worse, a patient needs to have a doctor diagnose them properly.
There have been prior cases in the United States where healthcare providers have failed to notice the signs of a spinal cord injury when evaluating a patient, only to have them end up more injured later due to that diagnostic failure. Whether someone’s spinal cord injury gets worse due to a lack of stabilization or a diagnostic mistake, they may be in a position to take legal action.
Those harmed by negligence buy a medical professional may have the legal right to pursue a malpractice lawsuit. Seeking financial compensation via a medical malpractice lawsuit may benefit those forever impacted by a medical mistake, and their choice might lead to a better standard of care for other people in the future.