Improper Treatment of Infectious Diseases

Doctors must be skillful and careful when diagnosing and treating serious infections, whether on the skin, in the blood or within major organs. Proper measures must be taken and the infection should not be ignored. When doctors and other healthcare providers make mistakes in the treatment of serious infections, the consequences can be devastating and sometimes even fatal. If you or a family member was harmed by a healthcare provider’s improper treatment of an infectious disease, you should consult the seasoned Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano.

Microorganisms, such as parasites, fungus, viruses or bacteria, can cause infections. Once a person has been infected, the disease may spread from one person to another through direct or indirect contact. The signs and symptoms of an infection depend on the particular organism involved. Commonly, a patient may experience fatigue or fever. If your primary care provider diagnosed an infection, a referral to an infectious disease specialist or even hospitalization may be required to treat a life-threatening infection. However, sometimes, an over-the-counter remedy may be sufficient.

Improper treatment can be the result of a doctor’s failure to timely treat an infection, failure to realize how serious an infection is, failure to identify the source of the infection, failure to prescribe antibiotics before surgery to stop an infection, failure to seek and culture samples of the infected area prior to starting antibiotics, failure to refer a patient an infectious disease specialist, and failure to match the appropriate antibiotics with the particular infection.

To establish that improper treatment by your doctor constituted medical malpractice, you will need to prove that each of the following elements is more likely than not present in your case: (1) the defendant owed you a professional standard of care, (2) the defendant deviated from the professional standard of care by failing to properly treat the infection, (3) causation, and (4) damages. In New York, the professional standard of care will depend on the defendant’s specialty and the geographic region.

In most cases, the plaintiff must retain an expert for a medical malpractice case. The medical expert, who possesses a background in the treatment for infectious diseases, can examine your medical record and other evidence to determine the applicable professional standard of care and whether your physician breached it. The expert may also testify whether the breach actually and legally caused you harm. Often medical malpractice cases become battles between experts, so retaining an attorney who understands how to present credible expert testimony on the stand can affect the outcome of a case. Because expert testimony may be complicated and technical, the lawyer has an important role is ensuring that it is understandable to a jury of laypeople.

If your attorney can establish that your doctor improperly treated your infectious disease and that the provided level of care constituted medical malpractice, you may be able to hold the healthcare provider accountable for your economic and noneconomic losses. Economic losses can include medical bills, wage loss, replacement services, and out-of-pocket costs. Noneconomic losses can include mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment and loss of consortium. Unfortunately, loved ones sometimes pass away as a result of improper treatment at the hands of healthcare providers. When a loved one passes due to improper treatment of an infectious disease, it may be appropriate to institute a wrongful death lawsuit for damages.

If you were harmed as a result of improper treatment of an infectious disease, you should talk to a seasoned medical malpractice attorney about your situation. Likewise, if a loved one died under these circumstances, you may be able to bring a wrongful death lawsuit for damages. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our trial attorneys represent patients and their families who were harmed by medical malpractice. We serve clients in Syracuse, Rochester, and many other places in Upstate New York, including in Auburn, Canandaigua, Lyons, Oswego, Watertown, Elmira, Herkimer, Ithaca, Lowville, Utica, Wampsville, Binghamton, Oneida, and Cooperstown. Please contact our firm at 833-200-2000 or via our online form.