Marathons are one of the favourite activities that people from all over the world engage in. Unlike sports involving Skiing, Wind Surfing, Mountain Climbing, or Scuba Diving, specialised equipment is not needed to run.
The most one needs to complete a marathon is a good pair of running shoes and thick socks; but even these are sometimes passed over by the more hardcore participants as they prefer to run barefoot.
With such a low barrier to join, it is no surprise that people all over the world join famous marathons such as the ones conducted in Boston and London. For the year of 2013, the number of runners totalled 26,839 and 34,631 respectively.
So when an injury takes place during a run, there is a chance that some form of negligence may take place.
Injuries may be any of the following:
- Appendicitis
- Dehydration
- Heatstroke
- Muscle cramps
- Over exhaustion
- Sprains
- Torn ligaments
- Twisted knees
- and even broken bones from falls
Being able to correctly diagnose the problem becomes very important because some of these injuries are life threatening. One example is Appendicitis. When in an advanced stage, it requires surgery for a patient to avoid death.
If Appendicitis is misdiagnosed as dehydration because of the similar symptoms of vomiting and abdominal pain, the Appendix may rupture and cause systemic poisoning to kill a patient.
And while today's medicine may still save a patient after the Appendix ruptures, the patient will need to contact their clinical negligence solicitors to secure compensation for the misdiagnosis because the healing process for systemic poisoning will be a long and expensive one.
Clinical Negligence Solicitors can Confirm if a Misdiagnosis was Done
With the symptoms of so many sicknesses being similar to each other, it is understandable for the average person to make a mistake in self-diagnosing oneself.
But doctors are trained to know the difference between the symptoms by different things such as dehydration and Appendicitis. While they may look the same to the average person and feel the same to the average patient, a more detailed way to isolate the real problem is part of the training that doctors go through.
But even with the best training, some doctors still make mistakes. Perhaps it was due to the suggestions of the attending nurse and they were too lazy to confirm. Or perhaps it was due to faulty testing equipment which the hospital did not fix to save money. Or perhaps it was due to the doctor being distracted by calls of his stockbroker recommending that he sell off his stock portfolio.
Either way, all of these reasons constitute a ground of medical negligence. Part of the right of patients, is to get a duty of care from the healthcare provider. So if the doctor did not confirm to the incorrect suggestions of a nurse, or is working with defective equipment, or is distracted by the thought of making a quick buck, contacting solicitors is the best action a patient can take.
Since clinical negligence solicitors are well versed in the medical procedures conducted by doctors, they are in the best position to know if a misdiagnosis or negligence was committed.
And once this has been confirmed, the same solicitors will know what next steps are required to make a claim in order to be able to cover any expenses needed to correct a negligent doctor's mistakes.
