Deerfield Beach Unnecessary Testing Lawyer
Diagnostic testing is a common practice in the medical community to help diagnose and treat patient’s medical issues. However, this does not allow a doctor or other medical professional to subject a patient to unnecessary procedures that can cause pain and potential risks to a patient’s health all for the sake of financial gain. At Leifer & Ramirez, our Deerfield Beach unnecessary testing lawyers are prepared to hold these medical professionals accountable for their actions and protect our clients from unnecessary medical testing.
Hazards of Unnecessary Medical Testing
It is estimated that healthcare providers order upwards of $200 billion in unnecessary medical testing every year, accounting for ten to thirty percent of all healthcare spending annually in the United States. The injuries and mistakes caused by unnecessary medical tests are also estimated to cause 30,000 deaths every year.
Unnecessary medical testing takes various forms, from the minimally invasive to surgical. The most common types of unnecessary medical tests include the following:
- X-Rays
- CT scans
- MRI scans
- Ultrasounds
- Heart screenings
- Breast examinations
- PAP smears
- Throat cultures
- Blood draws
- Endoscopies
- Colonoscopies
- Unnecessary medication, such as antibiotics
Healthcare providers order unnecessary medical tests for a variety of reasons. In some cases, a doctor is simply being cautious and making sure they do not miss anything with their patient. However, others order additional tests due to incompetence. They either misread results or don’t know what they are looking for in the tests. Unfortunately, some doctors order unnecessary medical tests to generate profits for their practice by committing healthcare fraud at their patients’ expense. And still others order additional tests simply due to laziness – they would rather subject their patients to further testing instead of reading through their medical history or talking to their patient.
Florida Medical Malpractice
Under Florida law, unnecessary medical testing that results in injury to a patient falls under medical malpractice. The law states that a doctor or healthcare provide shall “order, procure, provide, or administer unnecessary diagnostic tests,” which are not reasonable under the circumstances to diagnose a patient’s current condition. These tests can cost a patient money out of pocket and force them to miss work. In more serious cases, these unnecessary tests can cause physical harm to a patient that requires additional medical treatment and costs.
Proving that a healthcare provider ordered unnecessary medical testing that rises to the level of medical malpractice can be difficult to prove and often results in complex litigation with the healthcare provider. In order to be considered medical malpractice, a patient must prove that the doctor or medical professional owed a duty of care to the patient, that the duty was violated by unnecessary testing, and as a result of the unnecessary tests the patient suffered injury and damages beyond the typical scope of care. You need an experienced medical malpractice attorney by your side who knows the intricacies of unnecessary medical testing malpractice cases and can fight for your claims in court.
Call Our Office Today
If you believe that you have been subject to unnecessary testing by your doctor or another healthcare provider, contact the lawyers at Leifer & Ramirez in Deerfield Beach today to discuss your case free of charge. We will zealously defend your rights and get you the compensation you deserve.
