Is Patient Abandonment Covered Under Types of Medical Malpractice?

Now, when a doctor fails to end the relationship between the provider and the patient it could amount to significantly damaging medical malpractice. Patient abandonment is a particularly characteristic for of medical malpractice which takes place when a doctor terminates the relationship between him and his patient without any kind of reasonable excuse, if any is given at all. This is when he fails to provide the patient with a suitable and experienced replacement for his medical necessities.

What are the stages of patient abandonment?

Of course, in order to understand why this is considered to be a type of medical malpractice, one has to be well aware of the entire process so that he can draw the proper conclusions. The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that patient abandonment is a particularly fact-specific problem as the legal liability of the doctor could actually vary from one province to another. However, when it comes to Ontario, there are a few things which need to be properly accounted for and they include:

·         First, the doctor-patient relationship needs to be properly established. This means that the physician needs to have agreed in advance to take care of the patient and treatment itself needs to be underway.

·         Second, the abandonment needs to take place when the patient is in actual need of proper medical attention. This is the well-known “critical stage” of the treatment process.

·         The third thing that needs to be accounted for is that the abandonment must have taken place in an abrupt manner which doesn’t allow the patient to find a timely replacement of the medical professional.

·         Last but not least – the patient needs to have suffered injuries as a result of the abandonment. This is by far one of the most important things that you need to take into account.

Keep in mind that patient abandonment might not always be a direct fault of the physician. This is something which needs to be properly accounted for when it comes to it as it is an integral component of the entire case. Some of these situations include:

·         When the hospital doesn’t have enough staffing

·         The staff of the hospital fails to communicate properly on a very urgent question from the patient to the doctor

·         The staff schedules an appointment with the patient which spaced too far away in the future

·         The staff doesn’t follow-up on a patient who has missed an appointment

In any case, there are quite a lot of important things that need to be accounted for and it is obvious that the involvement of a lawyer is highly required and particularly helpful. This is something which is going to provide you with the necessary legal protection and representation.  You can browse online to seek a good lawyer or get referrals from friends and family. However, it is good to consult at least 2 to 3 lawyers and discuss your case before working with an injury lawyer that works on contingency basis.