Greg Baker, a former inmate at Butner Correctional Facility here in North Carolina, is suing the federal government. Mr. Baker alleges that medical malpractice at the Federal Correctional Complex resulted in the spread of testicular cancer throughout his penis. Mr. Baker claims that while he was an inmate, he noticed lesions in his testicular area, but was repeatedly denied access to a doctor who could diagnose the lesions as cancerous. The spread of cancer resulted in the amputation of most of Mr. Baker's penis.
The National Patient Safety Foundation has recently announced plans to create an educational week, dubbed Patient Safety Awareness Week, which will help doctors, nurses and other medical professionals avoid similar mistakes in the future. The program is intended to provide education to medical professionals as to how to ensure that their patients are treated properly.
Medical patients can also take measures to protect themselves and ensure their own safety. Patients are encouraged to talk to their doctors, research their condition, get second opinions and ask questions about the upcoming procedure, following treatment and rehabilitation program.
For those who have been injured in the past through medical malpractice, there is help available and you may be entitled to recover monetary damages. If you or a loved one has been injured through a doctor’s mistake, prescription mix-up, surgical error or any other medical malpractice incident, it is vital that you work with an experienced medical malpractice attorney who can help you to pursue your claim. The doctors and their insurers will have lawyers working hard on their behalf – so should you.