Every day, patients in Connecticut and their families place their trust and even their lives in the hands of medical professionals. As a result, doctors have a special responsibility to ensure their patients’ safety. When doctors or other healthcare professionals cause harm to patients because of negligence, mistakes, or poor judgment, they are violating the law.

An example of a this is playing out in the media right now as Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s legal representatives are getting ready to file a medical malpractice suit against the Yankees’ team doctor.

Rodriguez and his lawyers believe they have evidence that supports their argument that Chris Ahmad, the Yankees’ team doctor, misdiagnosed Rodriguez’s hip injury during last October’s playoffs.

After Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Rodriguez told the team his earlier injured right hip didn’t feel right. He went for an MRI, and the attention of the exam was on the original injury. It turned out that Rodriguez, who beforehand had surgery on his right hip, needed surgery on his left hip. According to reports, Rodriguez is blaming Dr. Ahmad for missing his hip injury.

There was a record which indicated an issue with Rodriguez’s left hip, but there were no clarifications or medical documentation from Ahmad. Notes were sent to Dr. Marc Philippon, who did the original hip surgery for Rodriguez. At the end of October 2012, Philippon performed another MRI that showed Rodriguez needed surgery on the left hip this time. Lawyers for Rodriguez interpret the notes to mean that Dr. Ahmad knew Rodriguez had a tear in the left hip but did not inform him. Rodriguez’s lawyers have not yet filed the suit, because they are still putting together their case.

Any medical malpractice case is a long and complicated legal matter because it’s not always fast or easy to prove that a doctor made a mistake or that the patient was harmed by that mistake. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can recognize injuries caused by mistakes, and is familiar with the most common mistakes that cause certain types of injuries.

Source:  abclocal.go.com, “A-Rod’s lawyers plan malpractice lawsuit against Yankees team doctor” Andrew Marchand, Aug. 20, 2013