Dangers Of Medical Overtreatment
We place a lot of trust in the knowledge and experience of medical professionals in America. It’s easy to believe that tests are the best way to diagnose and prevent complications, and that every health issue should be treated. However, sometimes these tests can pose more harm than good – especially if they lead patients down a cascading path of expensive therapies, drugs and surgeries that may not truly improve the quality of life.
Here at The Sanders Firm, we sympathize with the needless financial, physical and emotional hardships you’ve suffered as a result of a wrong diagnosis, an overabundance of testing, or unnecessary interventions. Sometimes honest mistakes are made, but it’s important that individuals who make them are held accountable so similar mistakes don’t happen again.
We’ve helped victims of medical overtreatment pursue compensation to cover their medical expenses, aggravation, and – in the worst cases — losses. A consultation with a NY medical malpractice lawyer is free of charge, so there is no harm in calling 1-800-FAIR-PLAY to explore your options.
How big a problem is medical overtreatment?
In a study of more than a million Medicare recipients, 25 to 42 percent of them received at least one test or treatment they didn’t need, according to Atal Gawande, writing in The New Yorker. Patients received EEGs for headaches, MRI scans for low back pain, and putting coronary-artery stents in patients with stable cardiac disease. “The likelihood of a heart attack or death after five years is unaffected by the stent,” Gawande explains.
He goes on to say, “Virtually every family in the country, the research indicates, has been subject to overtesting and overtreatment in one form or another. The costs appear to take thousands of dollars out of the paychecks of every household each year.”
The NY Times reports: “An epidemic of overtreatment — too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures — is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine, and taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death.”
More than 1,000 NY Times readers wrote in to the newspaper to share their stories of medical overtreatment. In one story, a CT scan for a bruised eye had a woman believing she had an undiagnosed brain tumor for several weeks. In another case, a man who had suffered a stroke was given antidepressants and began suffering from dementia, which cleared up after he stopped taking the drugs.
Pursuing a NY medical overtreatment lawsuit
Back in April 2014, we told the story of Robert Wyble, who filed a medical misdiagnosis lawsuit after four years of unnecessary treatments for myasthenia gravis that included thymus gland removal surgery, biweekly blood treatments, and medication that caused him to gain 80 pounds and develop high blood pressure. After switching doctors, Mr. Wyble was diagnosed with cataplexy, a condition associated with narcolepsy that is treated with medication. A New York jury awarded the man $4 million for his suffering.
A medical overtreatment lawsuit can help you overcome the financial burden of medical bills and compensate for:
- All medical expenses – past, present and future
- Loss of income and earning capacity
- Loss of consortium and companionship
- Emotional hardship and suffering
- Wrongful death and funeral expenses
Best of all, you can work with our legal team free of charge. Only when your case is accepted and wins a jury award or settlement are you expected to pay for services rendered. We fight for the inclusion of legal fees in your total compensation, so you receive your full due and risk nothing. The Sanders Firm feels it is important to file these lawsuits to hold medical professionals in New York State accountable for senseless mistakes and errors. By demanding more oversight and accountability from our healthcare system, we will receive better treatment for all residents.
Protect your legal rights
The trend of overtreatment in the medical profession concerns our attorneys here at The Sanders Firm. We speak with patients who received treatments or drugs they didn’t need, which often leads to more harm than good. If you or a loved one have reason to believe you’ve suffered injury as the result of unnecessary and excessive treatment from a healthcare professional in NY, contact The Sanders Firm at 1-800-FAIR-PLAY for a free case evaluation. Resources
- The New Yorker – Overkill, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/11/overkill-atul-gawande
- NY Times – Overtreatment is taking a harmful toll, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/overtreatment-is-taking-a-harmful-toll/?_r=0
