How Do I Contact Your Medical Malpractice Lawyers for a Free Consultation?

We at 844 See Mike proudly serve the citizens of Illinois in personal injury cases, including when you or a loved one has suffered injuries due to medical malpractice, and our attorneys are fully committed to protecting your rights and ensuring that the other party is held legally accountable when negligence occurs. We will fight until the very end to ensure that you receive full financial compensation for all injuries and losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering, and you won’t owe us a dime for our services. Contact our experienced medical malpractice attorneys today for a free consultation.

What is Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional or provider fails to uphold his/her legal duty to exercise reasonable care toward a patient and this negligence directly results in the injury or death of the patient.

Medical malpractice is a widespread problem in the U.S., but perhaps it still does not receive the attention it deserves: not only was it estimated to be the nation’s third-leading cause of death in 2016 – behind only heart disease and cancer – it also results in as many as 250,000 injuries and 100,000 deaths per year, all while less than 0.5% of doctors will receive serious sanctions as a result.

The good news is that you may be eligible for compensation for your injuries and losses in a medical malpractice claim. Contact our lawyers today for a free consultation.

Types of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed for a variety of reasons, including:

Anesthesia errors

In 2012, these errors accounted for about 31% of medical malpractice payouts, according to the National Practitioner Data Bank. Errors by anesthesiologists often pertain to drug administration, airway management, failure to screen a patient for allergic reactions, faulty equipment, fluid/electrolyte management, machine operation, IV apparatus use, or use of other monitoring devices.

Birth injuries

A doctor’s failure to identify or promptly respond to a health risk during labor or birth may result in injuries to the baby, such as brain injury, internal bleeding, broken bones, brachial plexus injury, cerebral palsy, nerve damage, spinal cord damage, shoulder dystocia, or fetal death.

Emergency room errors

Negligence on the part of ER professionals may include misdiagnosis of stroke or heart attack, delayed treatment, misinterpretation of tests or X-rays, or rushing through a necessary examination.

Hospital infections

Failure to promptly identify and treat an infection in a patient could result in the infection spreading to others within the hospital.

Misdiagnosis

A delayed or missed diagnosis may be considered negligence if the doctor misinterpreted test results, took an incomplete medical history, ignored symptoms of a serious medical condition, or failed to order necessary tests for a condition. It’s estimated that as many as 40,500 adult patients in ICUs (intensive care units) lose their lives each year due to misdiagnosis.

Medical errors

Prescribing an incorrect dosage or the wrong medication entirely may be considered negligence on the part of a doctor or pharmacist within a healthcare provider.

Radiology errors

Misread X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs could result in a delayed or missed diagnosis.

Surgical errors

These include “wrong-site” surgery (operating on the wrong area of the body), failing to promptly identify an infection, using unclean/unsanitary tools, puncturing organs, nerve damage, and leaving clamps, gauze, or other instruments inside the body.

Medical Malpractice Claims

Doctors are commonly held to the highest standard of care, but not a standard of perfection. Unfortunately, negative outcomes do occur in medical science, and despite the alarmingly-high ranking of medical malpractice as a cause of death in the United States, not all negative outcomes result directly from the negligence of a healthcare professional. Thus, it’s important to understand how some outcomes do indeed result from negligence and can be legally proven as such in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Generally, medical negligence refers to deviation from an accepted standard of care by a healthcare professional. For example, this could mean a misdiagnosis, failure to order a necessary test for a patient, or failure to order a necessary cesarean section in a timely manner which results in a birth defect. When the appropriate standard of care (whatever it may be) is violated, legal responsibility for the victim’s injuries and losses may fall onto the doctor, hospital, particular health care professionals, or a combination of these.

Components of a Successful Case

Your medical malpractice case must prove five essential components (in this listing, “doctor” may apply to any medical professional):

1. A doctor/patient relationship existed between you and the doctor in question;

1. The doctor owed you a legal duty of care;

1. The doctor breached his/her legal duty of care;

1. The doctor’s breached duty of care directly resulted in your injuries;

1. You suffered, physical, emotional, and/or economic damages resulting from the doctor’s breached duty of care.

Hospital Malpractice

When a company is directly responsible for an employee’s injuries, the company will be held legally accountable for its negligence under a principle called “respondeat superior.” This also applies to hospital malpractice, which differs slightly from medical malpractice. Common examples of hospital malpractice – which may result in a legal claim against the hospital itself – include:

Improper supervision

Many hospital patients require close supervision for even basic tasks, and if a patient is injured when unsupervised – particularly in situations in which they should be supervised under the medical staff’s legal duty of care – the hospital may be liable for the patient’s injuries.

Medication errors

A hospital which provides a patient with too little medication, too much medication, or the wrong medication entirely may be liable for the patient’s resulting injuries and/or complications.

Nosocomial infections

Health care professionals maintain high standards for sterilization of hands and equipment, and unsanitary conditions can result in a patient contracting a new infection from the hospital, known as a “nosocomial infection.”

Steps and Timeframes

Initial steps in medical malpractice cases include gathering copies of your medical records, having your records reviewed by special medical professionals, and interviewing any witnesses.

Following the initial investigation, your attorney will officially file a claim. While some claims are filed in federal court, most are filed in the Circuit Court of the county in which the medical malpractice occurred.

In Illinois, the complaint includes an “affidavit” (sworn statement) from your attorney which states that he/she consulted with a medical expert, this expert was competent and qualified to evaluate your case, and this expert determined a “reasonable and meritorious cause” for filing your lawsuit in a written report.

The length of a medical malpractice claim may depend in part on the other side’s cooperation in terms of answering questions and providing relevant documents, especially during the evidence-gathering phase of the case known as “discovery.”

If necessary, a court order may be obtained to force the other side’s cooperation with a discovery request. The length of the claim may also depend on the at-fault medical professional’s willingness to admit fault and/or agree to a fair settlement for your case.

Usually, a successful medical malpractice lawsuit is resolved in a settlement without having to go to trial. However, in the event that a fair settlement cannot be reached and a trial by jury is necessary, your attorney will be there with you until the very end to ensure that your rights are protected and you are fully compensated for your injuries and losses.

Contact our Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today!

If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence, you need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.

Contact 844 See Mike for a free case evaluation via telephone at 312-300-5996 or our website. We are a Chicago-based personal injury law firm, and helping our clients is about counseling, advocating, and ultimately solving problems.

With years of experience successfully representing the people and not the powerful, we will file your claim and take care of the insurance adjusters, medical treatment, and lost wages. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you. Lastly, our attorneys are not paid attorney fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.