A doctor must give patients their full attention in order to provide the best care possible. In fact, when you go to a doctor or seek emergency medical treatment you fully expect a doctor or other medical professional to give you their complete attention.
However, many people find that their doctors are distracted by cell phones, pagers, and other medical staff coming in and out and asking questions.
Not only is this frustrating, but it can be dangerous to your health. Not only can a lapse in attention mean that a doctor may miss a crucial diagnosis, but it may also result in the doctor making a surgical error, prescribing the wrong medication or dosage of medication, or some other preventable error. Get in touch with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in West Palm Beach who can help provide further information on distracted doctoring and the risk of medical errors in West Palm Beach and how it applies to your case.
What is Distracted Doctoring?
While we place a significant amount of trust and faith in our doctors, they are people who can be prone to distractions and mistakes from time to time. However, there are many distractions that can and should be avoided while a doctor is caring for a patient.
Delivering effective medical care demands the full attention of the doctor or medical professional providing the treatment. You expect your doctor to be completely focused on you when you are being treated.
Recently, a New York Times article noted the growing problem of so called Distracted Doctoring in their article, and stated:
“… research on the subject [of distracted doctoring] is beginning to emerge. A peer-reviewed survey of 439 medical technicians published this year in Perfusion, a journal about cardio-pulmonary bypass surgery, found that 55 percent of technicians who monitor bypass machines acknowledged to researchers that they had talked on cellphones during heart surgery. Half said they had texted while in surgery.
“About 40 percent said they believed talking on the phone during surgery to be always an unsafe practice while about half said the same about texting. The study’s authors concluded such distractions have the potential to be disastrous.”
Contact a Distracted Doctoring Lawyer Today
Distracted doctoring can have a serious impact on your life. If you are concerned you are not receiving the attention you deserve because your doctor is distracted, contact a West Palm Beach medical malpractice lawyer who has experience representing those injured by distracted doctors.
Speak to a member of our team today.