Medical Issues
Infectious Disease -
Neurology
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The "bug doctors" as some infectious disease
physicians refer to themselves, have a very broad spectrum of
exposure in the medical malpractice arena. The cases range from
the failure to differentiate well-established bacteria such as
legionella pneumophila (legionnaires disease) a curable type of
pneumonia, or meningitis, to the more exotic fungicemia. This
specialist traverses all other specialties and is probably not
utilized as a consultant as frequently as the standard of care
requires. A simple example: the patient has a knee replacement
performed by an orthopedic surgeon and some weeks later develops
an infection within the new prosthetic knee. Being over
confident in his knowledge of bacteria, the orthopedic surgeon
treats the infectious disease within the joint and fails because
of his lack of expertise in this area. The failure to request
consult of an infectious disease physician has been seen in
cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disease and
many others.
This specialty is frequently referred to as
"diagnostic medicine specialist." This is probably an older
adage because most physicians of all specialties consider
themselves diagnosticians. These specialists consist of
physicians who specialize in the entire human anatomy and entire
human physiology. The most common errors (malpractice) we see
are failure to diagnose serious disease processes that can lead
to death or permanent injuries. The cases include cardiac
(heart), pulmonary (lung), hematologic (blood) and other system
failures. The cases seen are similar to those seen with family
practitioners.
The "new born physician specialist" must be
acutely aware of the subtle symptoms that newborns exhibit.
Serious disease processes require immediate treatment. A delay
of hours can be tragic. These specialists are not always
available to deserving newborns, either because of the size of
the medical community or the negligent failure of the
obstetrician and/or the pediatrician to make the proper
consultation request. A neonatologist can be responsible in
failure to recognize respiratory distress or heart anomalies
that would require immediate intervention.
This specialty involves the area of kidney
functions. The failure to recognize and treat diseases of the
kidney can lead not only to the loss of the kidney but also to
the loss of life. Encapsulated malignant tumors within the
kidney are curable before the tumor escapes the capsule and
invades the body.
Recognizing the treatment need for certain types
of nephritis (inflammation of the kidney) can be a life saving
diagnosis. Conversely, failure to treat kidney disease in the
early stages can lead to a fatal result. Delaying dialysis when
needed can have a similar result.
This field of medicine includes the diagnosis
and treatment of the brain and nervous system. Cases in which we
have found medical malpractice usually are in the areas of brain
tumors, or neurologic disease of the spinal cord and associated
nerves.
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