Albany Medical Malpractice in a Clinic Setting

Family Physician/Primary Care Physician (PCP) Malpractice

• Failure to refer a patient to a specialist for medical care beyond what the family physician is capable of providing
• Failure to order appropriate tests to diagnose a patient, or failure to read or review test results when received
• Failure to diagnose an illness such as cancer, diabetes, heart attack, stroke or other serious medical condition
• Failure to advise a patient of the risks of medical treatment and failure to properly monitor a patient’s condition while the patient is on prescribed medication
• Failure to follow accepted obstetrical practices when treating an expectant mother

Internal Medicine Malpractice

As with family practice, these medical malpractice claims include, among other things:

• Failure to test for, diagnose or treat medical conditions
• Failure to send the patient to a hospital on evidence of an emergency condition such as unstable angina or stroke
• Failure to read x-ray or imaging reports demonstrating potentially life threatening conditions such as an abdominal aortic aneurysm, diverticulitis and developing abscesses

Midwifery/Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Malpractice

Patients are often examined, diagnosed and treated by members of a medical staff who are not licensed doctors. In such cases, a licensed doctor is required to supervise and review their work. Yet, supervising doctors have access only to the information the staff member has provided and the diagnosis they have made. A review of the medical record may occur only after the patient has been sent home. If there was a misdiagnosis, a delay in proper treatment may already have caused permanent injury.

Ophthalmology Malpractice

• Failure to identify and treat retinal detachment
• Failure to diagnose and treat glaucoma
• Improperly performed laser procedures (including vision correction procedures) in a clinic setting

Dermatology Malpractice

• Failure to diagnose skin cancer
• Improper treatment of psoriasis and acne
• Improper diagnosis and treatment of auto-immune disorders

Other Medical Malpractice

• Gastroenterology (GI) malpractice: failure to test for or diagnose prostate cancer or colorectal cancer, appendicitis, esophageal stricture, gall stones; failure to follow up with a patient after an endoscopy, colonoscopy, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (“ERCP”) to detect and treat complications
• Neurology malpractice: failure to diagnose herniated disc, improper treatment of seizure disorder, failure to treat risk of stroke
• Radiology malpractice: misdiagnosis of cancer, failure to identify and treat complications from invasive procedures
• Urology malpractice: improper treatment of renal calculi, misdiagnosis of renal disorders
• Orthopedics malpractice: failure to timely diagnose compartment syndrome

See other types of medical malpractice that can occur in a hospital setting.