Most Americans rely heavily on medical practitioners to help heal injuries and prevent future ones. As a country, we put our trust in medical professionals and have faith that they will get the job done, and get it done well. However, doctors and surgeons alike are prone to making mistakes. In fact, medical malpractice in the United States happens far more often than we may want to imagine. Medical malpractice, legally speaking, is when you suffer an injury as the result of medical practitioners negligence or misconduct in treating you.
There are numerous different types of medical malpractice, ranging from surgical to chiropractic medicinal malpractice. One of the more common types of medical malpractice is MRI testing malpractice. As the U.S. holds the title for the second most MRIs per capita in the world, MRIs — officially referred to as Magnetic Resonance Imaging — are bound to have errors arise. MRIs are a rather new technological advancement in the fields of medicine which enables practitioners to better diagnose an injury or disease in a patient. There are different types of MRI tests that can run including (but not limited to): brain and spinal cord imaging, heart and blood imaging, joint imaging, and various other organ imaging like kidneys and liver.
The benefits of accurately diagnosing a patient are extremely important for pursuing proper treatment. However, when these MRI tests go wrong, there can be serious consequences. The malpractice in an MRI test can cause serious injuries, both immediate and long-term, and can even result in fatalities if not addressed properly and promptly.
Every MRI malpractice case is different. Every single patient that undergoes an MRI test goes in with a different condition that needs to be treated, That being said, there are certain commonalities among MRI malpractice cases that result in serious injuries. For example, a poorly trained MRI technician can cause serious harm to the patient if they do not know how to work the machine properly. The failure to order proper tests can also lead to serious injury. Say, for instance, you have a heart problem. If you get tested for liver damage, you may not get the results that will properly prepare inform you on how to best medicate yourself. The biggest reason for MRI malpractice suits are for the misreading of MRI information. In other words, when medical professionals misread the information provided by an MRI, a patient may not be informed they have a serious disease or they may not be informed about the right disease.
This can have detrimental consequences, including death. If treated for the wrong injury, the other injury may continue to worsen and ultimately cause more problems than before. In this way, you suffer greatly from the MRI malpractice, and are faced with even more medical necessities such as hospitalization, doctor’s visits, physical therapy, and even around-the-clock medical treatment. This treatment can be incredibly expensive, and cose pose a financial burden on victims and their families.
If you or a loved one believe that you have suffered from an MRI malpractice, it may be in your best interest to reach out to Cohen & Cohen, a group of skilled attorneys who have successfully served residents of Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland for years, who specialize in medical malpractice cases like these.
