North Carolina baseball enthusiasts may have already heard that star player Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez may be about to file a malpractice lawsuit against the Yankees doctor who missed a left hip injury during the 2012 postseason. The failure to diagnose the injury may have adversely impacted A-Rod’s performance. The baseball player believes that the doctor intentionally left the injury out of his report as part of a strategy on the part of the team’s administrators to have insurance cover the remaining years of A-Rod’s contract.
According to media sources, the Yankees are disputing A-Rod’s allegations. The General Manager expressed his disappointment in the lawsuit and his confidence in the abilities of the team’s physicians.
Medical malpractice comes in many forms and often causes serious injury to patients. Regardless of its source, doctor negligence can have wide-reaching ramifications on someone’s condition and prognosis. Victims of hospital negligence may suffer additional injuries apart from those that led them to see the doctor in the first place and thereby incur increased medical expenses that surpass their financial abilities. In the worst cases, malpractice might cause permanent disability or even death. This can have tremendous, long-lasting consequences for the victim’s family.
For various reasons, it’s not always easy to prove malpractice and some cases are never discovered. An attorney experienced in malpractice lawsuits may wish to examine the specific nature and circumstances in which malpractice could possibly have occurred; if certain state and federal guidelines regarding medical procedure were not followed, hospitals may be left open to a malpractice suit. To that end, a lawyer could interview physicians, nurses and people close to the patient to learn how their symptoms changed before and after treatment. If someone can be shown to have been harmed by a medical error, they may be able to achieve a settlement that authorizes compensation for their damages.
Source: ESPN Go, “A-Rod’s lawyers plan malpractice suit“, Andrew Marchand , August 20, 2013