Can I Sue a Doctor for Withholding Medical Information?
Withholding information is a failure to give necessary detail by purposefully omitting specific details. When withholding occurs in a clinical setting by a physician, it means that vital information about your treatment options, lab results, or diagnosis results in serious injury or emotional damage to yourself.
As a patient, you are entitled to receive full information regarding your health status. This includes understanding your prognosis, your treatment options, and what to expect following any major medical procedures. Any failure to disclose this information by your health provider is considered a form of withholding— which is also a form of medical malpractice. If you have experienced an injury resulting from this malpractice, you are entitled to seek financial compensation for your trauma and should speak with a medical malpractice attorney immediately.
When Failure to Communicate Becomes Medical Malpractice
Communication failure is one of the most prominent reasons for medical malpractice claims. It occurs when a patient doesn’t receive important information about their medical treatment either due to clerical error or delays in communication.
For example, let’s say you went to the doctor for a urinary tract infection but didn’t receive information or care instructions for two weeks, and then the UTI progressed into a kidney infection. By then, you had to go to the hospital to receive IV fluids and antibiotics to treat the kidney infection, costing thousands of dollars in bills. In this case, the initial failure to communicate details about your condition caused injury would be a form of medical malpractice.
When Doctors Fail to Disclose Vital Information
In other instances, doctors or hospitals may fail to disclose important information, such as test results, relationships with drug companies, or mistakes made during treatment, as a tactic to reduce patients from needlessly worrying. However, while a doctor’s meanings may be good and intended to prevent unnecessary fear, if injury results from their failure to disclose information, they may be liable for medical malpractice suits.
Have You Been a Victim of Medical Malpractice?
If your doctor has failed to disclose critical information to you, you may have been a victim of medical malpractice. However, medical malpractice cases can be highly complex, especially when proving there was a communication failure or withholding information. To successfully file a claim against your physician, you must have carefully documented proof demonstrating how they failed to communicate, showing they had enough time and opportunity to share that information with you. Furthermore, if their withholding of evidence resulted in personal injury, then you are likely entitled to compensation, so it’s best to seek the consult of a personal injury attorney.
Conclusion
When withholding medical information leads to patient injury, it is considered a form of negligence and medical malpractice. While this can occur in different ways, such as delayed communication, failure to reveal test results, or failure to disclose all potential consequences of treatment, the end result is always harmful to the patient.
If you have been a victim of suspected medical negligence or malpractice, it’s crucial to speak with a personal injury attorney right away. An experienced attorney can evaluate your case, collect evidence as efficiently as possible, and ensure that you receive the maximum compensation for your claim.
