Expert Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Other Medical Issues
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
Neonatology
Nephrology
Neurology

Infectious Disease

The "bug doctors" as some infectious disease physicians refer to themselves, have a very broad spectrum of exposure in the medical malpractice arena. The cases range from the failure to differentiate well-established bacteria such as legionella pneumophila (legionnaires disease) a curable type of pneumonia, or meningitis, to the more exotic fungicemia. This specialist traverses all other specialties and is probably not utilized as a consultant as frequently as the standard of care requires. A simple example: the patient has a knee replacement performed by an orthopedic surgeon and some weeks later develops an infection within the new prosthetic knee. Being over confident in his knowledge of bacteria, the orthopedic surgeon treats the infectious disease within the joint and fails because of his lack of expertise in this area. The failure to request consult of an infectious disease physician has been seen in cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disease and many others.

Internal Medicine

This specialty is frequently referred to as "diagnostic medicine specialist." This is probably an older adage because most physicians of all specialties consider themselves diagnosticians. These specialists consist of physicians who specialize in the entire human anatomy and entire human physiology. The most common errors (malpractice) we see are failure to diagnose serious disease processes that can lead to death or permanent injuries. The cases include cardiac (heart), pulmonary (lung), hematologic (blood) and other system failures. The cases seen are similar to those seen with family practitioners.

Neonatology

The "new born physician specialist" must be acutely aware of the subtle symptoms that newborns exhibit. Serious disease processes require immediate treatment. A delay of hours can be tragic. These specialists are not always available to deserving newborns, either because of the size of the medical community or the negligent failure of the obstetrician and/or the pediatrician to make the proper consultation request. A neonatologist can be responsible in failure to recognize respiratory distress or heart anomalies that would require immediate intervention.

Nephrology

This specialty involves the area of kidney functions. The failure to recognize and treat diseases of the kidney can lead not only to the loss of the kidney but also to the loss of life. Encapsulated malignant tumors within the kidney are curable before the tumor escapes the capsule and invades the body.

Recognizing the treatment need for certain types of nephritis (inflammation of the kidney) can be a life saving diagnosis. Conversely, failure to treat kidney disease in the early stages can lead to a fatal result. Delaying dialysis when needed can have a similar result.

Neurology

This field of medicine includes the diagnosis and treatment of the brain and nervous system. Cases in which we have found medical malpractice usually are in the areas of brain tumors, or neurologic disease of the spinal cord and associated nerves.