Podiatrists’ Malpractice Can Result In Serious Personal Injury

Foot pain is experienced by more people than you think.  As you know, the pain can be severe and is certainly treatable by a specialist.  Podiatrists are trained doctors that focus on portions of the leg, ankle, and feet.  Their treatments may be diagnostic, external, and may even call for invasive surgery.

Experienced medical malpractice attorneys know that podiatrists are accountable to patients just as are any other type of doctor or medical professional.  So long as there is an existence of a doctor-patient relationship, the podiatrist must treat the patient in accordance with the standards dictated by the profession and within the community that the practice operates.

The types of conditions commonly treated by podiatrists are:

• Plantar fasciitis
• Pinched nerves (Neuromas)
• Nail fungus
• Corns
• Calluses
• Bunions
• Hammer toe
• Flat foot
• Achilles tendonitis

Most of these ailments can become so severe that surgery is needed which could include the need for foot reconstruction.

Malpractice can arise in podiatric care in many ways.  The patient’s condition can be misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all.  When this happens, patients may have undergone surgery that wasn’t needed, they might have to undergo additional surgery that otherwise would not have been needed.  Pain and suffering can be prolonged as well.

Negligence during surgery can arise as well.  If the surgery was not performed according to prescribed protocols and such has caused harm to the patient, there could be a claim for negligence.  Common surgical errors are nerve injuries, distortion of the foot, and lack of informed consent.

An experienced medical malpractice attorney will have developed a sophisticated practice so that handling a podiatric malpractice case is a matter of course.  The attorney will know how to properly investigate a claim, which experts to retain, and what defenses to predict.

As mentioned above, if the standard of care has been breached, then negligence has arisen.  However, in order to recover there must have been harm and that harm must have been caused by the breach.  Without causation and damages there can never be a recovery.

Experts will inform the jury as to what the standard of care was; they will then show how that standard was breached.  Experts will then explain how the injury suffered by the plaintiff could not have been caused by anything but the defendant-podiatrist’s negligent act.  Lastly, an expert will use financial analyses to quantify the plaintiff’s damages so that the jury can properly allocate an award for the plaintiff.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.