What kinds of errors are often associated with medical malpractice?
Let me use the physician as an example, although a similar pattern applies to any healthcare provider. Taking your interactions with doctors in a chronological order, the general pattern is: (1) you develop symptoms; (2) you decide that the symptoms need professional treatment; (3) you visit a doctor, and the doctor takes your history, performs a physical examination, orders diagnostic tests; (4) the doctor makes a diagnosis; (5) the doctor starts you on a course of treatment which may involve medication, surgery, radiation treatment, chemotherapy, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, or some other modality; and (6) you either get better, fail to improve, or get worse. It is your responsibility to seek healthcare when you are ill. Thus, you are fully responsible at Steps One and Two above for your own healthcare. If you have waited too long to seek help, your doctor will not be able to help you no matter how competent he or she is. For example, a patient may develop a small lump and ig
