Fort Lauderdale Unnecessary Testing Lawyer
We entrust our doctors with our medical care and assume that they always have our best interests at heart. However, some doctors and other medical professionals use their patients by ordering unnecessary medical tests for their own financial gain. You consent to medical testing because you want an accurate diagnosis, not to help unscrupulous doctors pad their insurance bill. At Leifer & Ramirez, our Fort Lauderdale unnecessary testing lawyers hold those doctors accountable for their actions and get our clients the compensation they deserve.
What Constitutes Unnecessary Testing?
An unnecessary medical test is one that is performed on a patient that is not needed to diagnose a medical issue and could potentially affect the patient’s overall health. Some of the most common unnecessary tests ordered by doctors and other medical professionals include:
- X-Rays
- Heart screening tests
- CT scans
- MRI scans
- Imaging tests
- Colonoscopies
- Endoscopies
- Gratuitous prescription of antibiotics
- Throat cultures
- PAP smears
- Breast examinations
- Ultrasounds
- Blood tests
Due to the preparation and procedures of these tests, patients are exposed to real dangers when subjected to unnecessary medical testing by doctors that can have serious, if not fatal, results.
Doctors and other medical professionals order unnecessary tests for a variety of reasons, and sometimes the reasons are legitimate. A doctor may be overly cautious and wants to ensure that they do not miss an issue. However, in most cases unnecessary testing is ordered for financial gain. Common reasons for ordering additional, unnecessary medical tests include a hospital being low on cash flow, a physician looking to pad their bill with the insurance company, and incompetence. Some physicians lack the skills to properly diagnose a patient, so they order as many tests as possible to try and figure out the issue and some are quite simply too lazy to review a patient’s medical history, so they order unnecessary tests instead.
The Dangers of Unnecessary Testing
One of the most serious dangers of unnecessary medical testing is that a doctor may miss a real medical issue while ordering extra tests. In addition, the type of testing may include needle punctures, blood transfusions, or other invasive procedures that increase the risk of contracting an infection or other serious injury. Some tests require fasting or other lifestyle changes and oftentimes require a patient to miss work, potentially affecting their wages.
Restitution for Unnecessary Testing
Patients that have been subjected to unnecessary testing may be entitled to compensation for damages. In cases where unnecessary medical testing led to death, the patient’s family may be entitled to restitution, as well. Depending on the circumstances, a patient may be compensated for current and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and pain and suffering that resulted from the unnecessary tests. For cases that resulted in death, the family may be compensated for wrongful death damages, which may include emotional distress, loss of consortium, and funeral costs.
Call Leifer & Ramirez Now
Unnecessary testing by doctors and other medical professionals subjects you to needless harm that could be potentially fatal. If you believe that you were given unnecessary medical tests by a medical professional in the Fort Lauderdale area, call or contact Leifer & Ramirez today to schedule a free consultation of your case.
