Medical malpractice occurs when doctors fail to exercise their professional duties of care toward their patients and patients suffer harm as a result of those shortcomings. It is an unfortunate and real occurrence in communities all across the state of Illinois and it affects many people across the country each year. Though medical malpractice is often thought of as a wrong that results in only physical harm, it can also occur in cases of mental health as well.
The website mentalhealth.gov describes mental health as related to a person’s social, emotional and psychological health. The state of people’s mental health can have a drastic impact on how they live their lives. When doctors fail to adequately treat individuals for mental health issues and disorders, those patients can suffer devastating harm.
Just as a person requires medical treatment for the injuries and illnesses that impact his physical abilities, a person can also seek out mental health specialists to address the emotional and psychological problems that may impede the person’s well-being. Doctors who fail to treat patients for mental health issues or who treat them with improper or wrong protocols may fail to meet their professional duties of care. In these cases, mental health medical malpractice may result.
Everyone makes mistakes. However, when doctors and hospitals make errors with regard to their patients’ mental and physical health, catastrophic and even life-threatening problems can occur. These mistakes and the harm that result can amount to medical malpractice and attorneys who practice personal injury law can provide their clients with specific information on causes of action related to their clients’ particular cases. Individuals who have suffered psychological or physical harm as a result of their medical practitioners’ errors or omissions may have rights to compensation for their damages.
