As COVID-19 continues to infect thousands, leading to serious health consequences and deaths, our nation’s healthcare system has been tested like never before, with doctors, nurses and other health care workers being on the front line assisting those affected, often taking heroic efforts to save lives. However in some individual cases, COVID 19 diagnoses have been missed, with a recent COVID 19 lawsuit filed containing allegations of the failure to treat and properly diagnose a woman’s serious and rapidly deteriorating condition from Covid, alleging that the care she received "negligent and/or reckless."
Such allegations are standard in many medical malpractice lawsuits. As such, legal experts wonder whether given the sheer number of cases and deaths, COVID 19 lawsuits will become prevalent. The long lasting impact of COVID 19 on the justice system - including individual medical negligence actions - is too early to know. However, the basic legal considerations concerning whether the medical care received constitutes actionable negligence remains. Health care workers, even under the difficult circumstances presented by COVID-19, owe a duty of care to their patients, and when patients suffer harm due to a breach of care, they may be be able to recover compensation in a medical malpractice action. Notwithstanding the admirable and life-saving efforts of healthcare workers across the country during this unprecedented crisis, standards of care still provide the basic framework for determining when an action may be considered negligent. As medical malpractice attorneys dedicated to patient safety, we understand the dilemma facing families of those who have sustained harm due to inadequate COVID-19 medical care. To discuss your legal options and for more information, please contact the dedicated California medical malpractice lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson LLP.
