As a medical provider, you took an oath to do no harm. When your patient came down with complications from a procedure, you did everything you could to stop the complications from injuring them further. You took immediate steps to help them, but they did not recover as well as you’d hoped.
Part of the reason for their illness came down to an allergy. There’s no way that you could have known they’d be allergic to anything used during the procedure because they had said they had no known allergies. The allergy developed over time, so by the time the patient was in trouble, they’d already been back in their room recovering. You were able to deliver life-saving support, but they may still need additional surgeries and help due to the unexpected complications.
The patient has filed a lawsuit for malpractice that you know doesn’t have merit. You didn’t do anything wrong, but you don’t want this situation to get out of control. What can you do?
It’s smart to talk to your attorney about setting up a defense, even though you know that you didn’t do anything that other medical providers wouldn’t have done. If anything, you went above and beyond the call of duty and took special care of your patient to make sure they were comfortable. You spent much of your time working with them, even though you could have left for the day or passed on those tasks to nurses or other supports.
Medical complications aren’t always a result of errors. Your documentation will help support your case, so your attorney can work to quickly have the claim dismissed.
