The Connection Between Preventable Medical Harm and Long-Term Chronic Conditions

A bad experience at the hospital can make you think that the worst is over.

Until you get your bill.

Long after negligent care leads to an injury, medical debt can flare up and cause months — if not years — of financial pain. The impact of a medical mishap doesn’t stop when you walk out of that hospital room door.

And neither should your case against the providers who harmed you.

But there’s something else that doesn’t stop after preventable medical harm. The lasting health effects.

It’s a pattern that repeats far too often. One wrong move by a nurse or doctor starts a chain reaction of damage that your body deals with for years to come. The career-ending injuries. The lifelong chronic pain. The financial burden to try and fight back.

Elder abuse attorneys know this pattern all too well. Medical negligence that leads to long-term chronic care fits into both medical malpractice law and elder abuse law. Especially when it happens to an older adult in a care facility. An experienced Irvine medical malpractice attorney can help connect the dots between what went wrong medically and the compensation a patient is owed legally.

What makes these cases so unique — and so winnable — is understanding the connection between what happened to your loved one…and what they continue to live with today.

Let’s dive into how preventable medical harm destroys lives years down the road.

Your Cheat Sheet:

• What Is Preventable Medical Harm?
• How Medical Mistakes Cause Chronic Conditions
• Why Seniors Suffer From Medical Errors More Often
• How to Protect Your Family from Financial Loss

What Is Preventable Medical Harm?

Preventable medical harm is any injury that occurs during medical care that could have been avoided by a competent health care provider.

This includes many of the medical errors you’ve heard about:

• Misdiagnosis
• Surgical errors
• Medication mistakes
• Hospital infections
• Failure to diagnose

But here’s the scary truth:

Up to 400,000 hospitalized patients suffer from preventable harm each year. That’s not an anomaly. That’s a frequent occurrence in hospitals nationwide.

And for many patients, the suffering extends well beyond their hospital stay.

Because it’s not just about the initial incident.

How Medical Mistakes Cause Chronic Conditions

Your body is a connected system.

When one part suffers, your body compensates and tries to move on.

Until it can’t anymore.

Let’s look at a quick example:

An elderly patient receives the wrong diagnosis for an ischemic vascular issue. Because proper protocols aren’t followed right away, they suffer nerve damage. That nerve damage leads to chronic pain. Chronic pain leads to mobility issues. Mobility problems then accelerate the onset of type 2 diabetes.

One mistake. A handful of chronic conditions.

This happens way more than you might realize. Chronic medical conditions are preventable medical harm’s fingerprint all over your medical records.

Examples of chronic illnesses and injuries caused by negligent care include:

• Kidney damage/failure – undetected medication toxicity causes lasting damage to the kidneys
• Heart conditions – surgical errors or anesthesia complications cause long-term cardiovascular issues
• Respiratory diseases – hospital infections lead to lifelong lung damage
• Chronic pain – untreated injuries or nerve damage can cause lifelong chronic pain
• Cognitive impairment – brain chemistry altered due to negligent prescriptions

Each of these conditions were most likely caused by a mistake during your hospital stay. Each of these conditions are grounds to hold a nurse, doctor, or facility accountable.

Why Seniors Suffer From Medical Errors More Often

You’re older. You know that your body doesn’t recover quite like it used to.

That makes you more likely to be impacted by medical errors than any other age group.

33% of patients over 70 experience an increase in disability upon their hospital discharge. Patients that were able-bodied enough to walk into the hospital become bedridden due to negligent care.

It’s devastating. And sadly, it happens far too often.

The medical mistakes continue to compound. One error can cause long-term damage that leads to more errors. It’s a terrible cycle that seniors are unfortunately placed into due to age.

Negligent care causes chronic conditions, which inhibit the senior’s ability to properly recover from their hospital stay. Leaving them even more susceptible to medical errors.

When that hospitalization happens in a nursing home or long-term care facility, you have every right to seek justice with an elder abuse attorney.

Both medical malpractice and negligence play a part in these situations. Seniors lack the ability to advocate for themselves, which makes them vulnerable inside facilities that are meant to protect them.

Over 20% of Medicare patients say they’ve suffered some form of malpractice during their stay in a nursing home. Families don’t always make the connection that this type of negligence overlaps with elder abuse. But it does. Understanding how these work together empowers you to take action against unthinkable care.

What Families Can Do About It

So your loved one was injured because of medical malpractice. What happens now?

If they were left with a chronic illness or condition, you have every right to contact an attorney.

Here’s how to start:

1. Compile all medical records since the date of the original incident
2. Document the current chronic condition. When did it start? How has it progressed?
3. Determine if there are any notes from your doctor that attribute the new condition to the previous injury
4. Contact an elder abuse attorney or medical malpractice attorney ASAP

Time is of the essence. Medical malpractice claims have a limited window in which you’re allowed to press charges. The sooner you speak to a lawyer about your loved one’s condition, the more likely you are to protect them from further loss.

The Thing Most People Forget…

Medical malpractice doesn’t end when you leave the hospital.

The harm that medical professionals can cause goes way past bandages and stitches.

Negligent errors that cause chronic harm are responsible for your loved one’s current condition. Whether that be pain, suffering, or lost ability to live on their own.

But now you know the connection.

You know what your family is going through doesn’t just stop with the initial injury. You know you have options to fight back against the professionals who failed them.

Contact an attorney today if you think your loved one may have a case against their doctor, nurse, or facility.