When you undergo surgery or receive various other forms of medical treatment, post-treatment monitoring can be essential for identifying complications (or other issues) before they lead to serious consequences. In many cases, follow-up care will be necessary as well—whether this involves removing stitches or using imaging to determine if a wound is healing or a tumor is regrowing.
Just like failures during a patient’s initial diagnosis and treatment, follow-up failures can also constitute medical negligence, or medical malpractice. If a doctor or another healthcare provider fails to meet the requisite standard of care under any circumstances, this can warrant a medical malpractice claim under Illinois law.
Follow-up failures can take many different forms. While not all follow-up failures will necessarily constitute medical negligence (just like not all initial diagnosis and treatment failures will necessarily constitute medical negligence), errors and oversights related to a patient’s follow-up care can justify claims in a wide range of circumstances.
Some examples of follow-up failures that can constitute medical negligence include:
Patients who need follow-up care will often need medications as well. Failure to provide medications to patients who need them can be a clear form of medical negligence. Other medication errors—such as overdosing, underdosing, and providing the wrong medications—can also provide clear grounds to file a medical negligence claim.
Likewise, patients who are receiving inpatient care following a procedure must receive appropriate nutrition and hydration to promote their recovery and general wellbeing. Failing to provide food and hydration, or providing the wrong types of foods or IVs, can provide grounds to file a medical negligence claim as well. The same is true of failing to provide assistance (i.e., assistance with standing or walking) to patients who need it.
Inadequate monitoring is among the most common causes of follow-up failures in hospitals and other medical facilities. This includes both failure to track patients’ vital signs with electronic monitoring equipment and failure to monitor patients in person for signs that follow-up care may be necessary.
Diagnostic testing isn’t just important when patients first seek treatment. It is also important post-treatment—when patients may be at risk of suffering complications due to infections, blood loss, and various other issues. Since a timely and accurate diagnosis is critical for providing necessary follow-up care, diagnostic failures during a patient’s recovery can also provide clear grounds to file a medical negligence claim in Illinois.
From failing to schedule follow-up appointments to failing to provide necessary treatment during in-office visits, failures involving follow-up treatment can provide clear grounds for patients and their families to take legal action as well. Ultimately, if you have any questions related to the care you or a loved one received (or didn’t receive) in an Illinois medical facility, it will be worth talking to a medical malpractice lawyer about your legal rights.
These failures, among many others, can result from a variety of different issues. When you have a medical negligence claim, you need to be able to identify the specific issue that is to blame. This is one of several reasons why it is important to have an experienced medical malpractice lawyer on your side.
When you hire an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will examine all possible causes of your (or your loved one’s) substandard care. Some examples of common issues in medical negligence cases involving follow-up failures include:
Again, these are just examples. Once you hire a medical malpractice lawyer, your lawyer will be able to work to obtain the evidence needed to prove your legal rights. Your lawyer will also be able to assess the value of your medical negligence claim (if you have one) and work to negotiate a favorable settlement on your behalf.
Do you need to know more about filing a medical negligence claim for a follow-up failure in Illinois? If so, we strongly encourage you to contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation.
The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Coplan + Crane are committed to helping victims of medical negligence move forward after an illness or injury. We have the experience, skill, and resources necessary to handle these complex cases.
Contact the Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Coplan + Crane today online or at (312) 982-0588 for a FREE case evaluation. We help clients across Illinois, including Chicago, Oak Park, Rockford, and other areas. We handle medical malpractice claims on a contingency basis, which means you don’t pay unless we win.
