When your doctor proposes a treatment plan or medical procedure for your condition, you assume they have the experience and knowledge to perform the procedure. Unfortunately, physicians sometimes offer to perform procedures despite lacking the necessary competence to ensure they can do so safely. As a result, you may face a risk of serious injuries or complications if a doctor’s lack of adequate knowledge or experience leads to an error during a medical procedure.
If you suffered harm due to a preventable medical error, contact Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C. today. We can discuss patient rights when doctors lack experience and cause harm.
What Are Competence and Knowledge Issues in Medical Procedures?
A lack of competence or medical knowledge can pose serious risks to patients during medical procedures. A physician’s inadequate competence, experience, skills, or knowledge can increase the likelihood of mistakes that may injure a patient or lead to complications during a procedure. For example, a doctor may try to treat an injury or condition outside of their specialty, or they may try to treat a condition with which they have no experience without consulting a more experienced physician for a second opinion.
Competence and knowledge issues may arise when doctors perform new or experimental medical procedures or try to use medical technology without adequate training and experience. Competence and experience in the medical procedure proposed increase the likelihood that a physician will perform the procedure safely and avoid errors that can injure a patient or lead to complications.
Lack of competence or knowledge differs from medical negligence since the former means a physician lacks the required knowledge or procedural competency to perform a medical procedure. In contrast, the latter means that a physician did things during a procedure that other doctors of similar training and experience would not have. Even a highly experienced physician can commit negligence, whereas a less experienced doctor may harm a patient due to their lack of competency-based medical education.
Common Examples of Lack of Medical Competence and Malpractice
Some of the most frequent examples of physician incompetence or a lack of competency skills include the following:
- Misdiagnosis, which can lead to a physician performing unnecessary procedures
- Failure to order proper tests to identify potential complications and plan a procedure
- Improperly performing a chosen treatment
- Performing a procedure with minimal procedural skills training or experience
- Surgical errors, such as wrong-site surgery, permanently damaging internal tissues, or leaving surgical materials or equipment inside the patient
- Miscalculating the anesthesia dosage
- Failure to notice or respond to signs of complications or patient distress
- Failure to seek a second opinion or refer a patient to a specialist to address complications during a procedure
When health professionals lack the appropriate medical education, this can have a significant impact on patient care. Healthcare professionals may be held liable when they lack the core competency to perform a medical procedure or complex tasks for which they have not received the necessary clinical training.
How a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help with a Lack of Physician Knowledge Lawsuit
A medical malpractice attorney can help you pursue a claim for medical errors due to a lack of knowledge by:
- Thoroughly investigating your case to recover evidence needed to prove how your doctor’s incompetence led to your harm
- Documenting your injuries and losses to ensure we pursue fair compensation for you
- Identifying liable parties and evaluating your legal options for achieving financial compensation
- Vigorously pursuing your claims, even when that means going to trial
Our medical malpractice attorneys hold those in health professions to the highest standards. We have successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for clients who were injured due to malpractice or negligence. Call us today for a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
How Lack of Competence Can Lead to Medical Malpractice
A lack of competence can lead to a medical malpractice claim when a physician’s decision to perform a procedure outside their scope breaches the applicable standard of care in the patient’s case. The standard of care in medical malpractice cases examines whether other physicians of similar training and experience would make the same decisions or take the same actions in similar circumstances as the patient’s case.
A doctor may breach the standard of care when they choose to perform a procedure that other physicians of similar training and experience would recognize as beyond their qualifications and clinical training. For example, other doctors of comparable training and expertise might choose to consult or perform a procedure together with a more experienced physician or a doctor who has received specialized training.
Furthermore, a medical malpractice claim will require an attorney to prove a causal connection between the patient’s injury and their physician’s lack of knowledge or experience. The attorney must show that the injury would not have occurred but for the physician’s inexperience and that the doctor’s lack of competence primarily contributed to their error during a procedure.
Legal Options for Victims of Incompetent Medical Care
An injured patient can pursue financial compensation in an inexperienced doctor malpractice claim when the patient’s harm results from mistakes their physician made due to a lack of competence or knowledge.
Evidence that a patient might use to prove their case includes:
- Medical records
- Treatment notes
- Diagnostic scans
- Video footage
An experienced medical malpractice attorney will know how to prove medical incompetence in court. They use medical expert testimony to explain how your physician lacked the competence or knowledge to perform a procedure and how their lack of experience caused an error that resulted in your injury or complications.
In a personal injury claim, you may recover compensation for losses such as:
- Additional medical treatment for an injury or complication
- Additional time missed from work to recover from an injury or complication during a procedure
- Lost future earning capacity due to prolonged or permanent disability
- Pain and suffering
Why Choose Our Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorney?
Proving that your doctor committed medical errors due to a lack of knowledge can involve complex factual and legal issues. As a result, you need seasoned counsel to help you prove your right to compensation for injuries caused by a physician’s lack of competence or knowledge. Choose the legal team at Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C. to advocate for your rights and interests because:
- We provide world-class legal advocacy that has earned our firm national recognition from prestigious legal publications and organizations. Other law firms frequently refer their most challenging cases to us because they know we have the knowledge and experience to deliver results.
- Our attorneys provide every client with the personalized attention and caring support they deserve after suffering harm due to the negligence of others. You can rest assured that our firm will work diligently to pursue your legal claims. Our team will keep you updated on the progress of your medical malpractice case and will answer your questions and provide you with tailored legal advice.
- Our firm focuses on handling catastrophic injury cases in medical malpractice and other personal injury matters. As a result, we’ve developed unparalleled insights into these types of claims and a network of experts to help us present compelling legal cases.
For life’s toughest trials, contact Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C. today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a medical malpractice attorney.
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Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, P.C.
1634 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA, 19103
Phone: (215) 585-2814
Email: info@erlegal.com
