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Table of Contents
Filing a claim for medical negligence doesn’t just help people recover financially. Holding healthcare providers accountable for their medical mistakes also helps to reform the healthcare industry and prevent harm to future patients.
Once you have determined that your injuries were caused by a medical error, you will need to decide whether a medical malpractice claim should be filed. To determine whether you have grounds to sue the medical professionals who caused you harm, your lawyer will review your medical records and the injuries you suffered.
Your lawyer will consult with experts and other medical professionals to help decide whether the appropriate standard of care was delivered by the healthcare professional in question, and whether the medical provider’s mistake was likely the cause of your injuries or worsened health condition.
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional or facility provides substandard care to a patient, causing an injury or loss that could have been avoided if the correct care had been implemented.
When proving medical negligence, your lawyer will need to demonstrate that the care that was provided did not meet the standard of care expected, or that would have likely been provided by a similarly qualified medical professional in the same or similar circumstances.
Breach of the duty of care by medical providers might include any action that causes injury or death that would have been avoided by another doctor in the same situation. The most common medical malpractice claim is misdiagnosis through lack of testing or a wrong interpretation of test results. Our Chicago law firm sees a wide range of negligence cases, however.
When you enter the hospital, you might encounter a variety of staff members that participate in your treatment plan. From completing your intake properly, evaluating your symptoms, and administering treatment, to delivering medications, performing tests, and monitoring your condition, your doctors and other medical professionals involved in your treatment owe you a duty of care to avoid causing harm to you. If any of the medical professionals who contribute to your care act negligently or make a mistake, and you suffer injuries because of it, you are a victim of hospital malpractice.
Surgical errors happen when negligent actions or omissions cause an injury that is not standard risk of the procedure. Often referred to as “never events”, these errors include, but are not limited to, the misuse of anesthesia, cutting into the wrong body part, operating on the wrong patient, performing the wrong surgery, or accidentally leaving surgical instruments or foreign objects inside the patient. Never events like these often become the basis of high-value medical malpractice lawsuits.
Inadequate training is also a common problem that leads to medical malpractice cases in Chicago. Partially due to labor shortages in the healthcare industry, it is common for inadequately trained medical professionals to step into positions or perform procedures they are not trained to do. Providing inadequate information about safety protocols, and failing to keep all the proper safety training history for staff members, can also lead to patient injuries. Hospitals and clinics may also be negligent if they don’t provide enough supervision for employees who still require training.
It can also be considered medical negligence if a facility uses unsafe, outdated, or poorly maintained equipment when treating patients. Examples might include machines that are not properly inspected, maintained, or updated with new parts, using machines with design flaws, retaining incorrect instruction manuals, or failing to properly handle machine errors.
A missed, wrong, or delayed diagnosis by a medical professional is known as a diagnostic error. Some of the most common medical errors involve diagnostic issues like misinterpreting test results, ignoring patient symptoms, mistakes with testing procedures, and failing to identify serious or deadly medical conditions that other professionals in similar situations would not have missed. Diagnostic errors are usually revealed by later testing in followups or during further exploration of reoccurring symptoms. These types of medical malpractice cases involve the highest number of fatalities.
Medication errors are another common cause of patient injuries. The three most common medication mistakes that give rise to medical malpractice cases include prescribing the wrong medication, giving the patient the wrong dosage of the correct medication, or not taking into account the interactions that medication will have with the patient. Defendants in these types of claims are often doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and pharmacists.
Don’t let negligent medical providers get away with their mistakes. It’s time to make them pay for the pain and suffering you’ve endured.
In medical settings, incompetence, miscommunication, and blatant medical errors occur all too often. According to Johns Hopkins patient safety experts, it is estimated that more than 250,000 people across the nation lose their lives every year as a result of medical malpractice. This translates to 9.5 percent of all deaths per year in the United States.
When medical mistakes cause patients to experience unnecessary pain and suffering, lost income, emotional distress, or other damages, a medical malpractice lawyer at DePaolo & Zadeikis will provide the legal guidance and representation it takes to ensure that you recover financial compensation.
To prove that a medical professional or facility’s error qualifies as medical malpractice, you’re going to need to demonstrate that various elements of a case existed when your injury happened. Evidence will need to be presented for a jury to understand what occurred before, during, and after the alleged medical injury. Your medical malpractice lawyer will need to convince the jury that medical negligence was more than likely the reason you suffered injuries.
The first step in proving medical malpractice is to demonstrate the doctor and the patient relationship. When doctors or other medical providers treat or advise a patient, they have entered into an agreement that they will uphold the standard of care that other healthcare professionals or facilities would provide to a patient under the same circumstances. This is what is known in the legal sense as a duty of care.
To prove that the duty of care was breached, a medical expert will provide testimony about the standard of care that was expected, and how your healthcare provider deviated from that standard. Duty of care can be breached accidentally or maliciously. Most of the time, breach of duty involves careless or irresponsible action or inaction that leads to injury or death. Healthcare providers who breach the duty of care that is owed to their patients can be held financially responsible for the harm they cause.
Not all adverse outcomes warrant medical malpractice claims. For your claim to be valid, your Chicago medical malpractice attorney must prove that your injury was caused by the substandard care you received. If the doctor acted negligently, but your injury was unrelated to the doctor’s action or inaction, you do not have a medical malpractice case.
As a patient, you must also prove that because of the substandard care, you suffered some type of loss. It’s not enough for your doctor to have made a mistake or acted negligently. You must have suffered some type of physical or emotional injury that resulted in financial losses to win a lawsuit. If you didn’t suffer an injury, there is nothing to recover.
Not sure if your injury was due to negligence? Call a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer at DePaolo & Zadeikis to assess your case. 312-263-7560.
n medical malpractice cases, the liable party can be a person or a business that is determined to have been negligent. This can include, but is not limited to:
It is common for multiple parties to be defendants in a medical negligence case. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you determine who to sue for your injuries and losses.
Medical mistakes and negligence often result in severe, life-changing injuries. Most of the time, the consequences are irreversible. Although no amount of money can turn back the clock and erase the damages that have been done, filing a medical malpractice lawsuit still makes sense when severe injuries, illnesses, or death occur.
Medical Malpractice claims can benefit more than just the injured patient. A successful medical malpractice claim will also hold negligent medical providers accountable for their mistakes, reducing the risk of the same injuries happening to other patients in similar situations.
Medical negligence often leaves victims and their families struggling financially. Ongoing medical treatment and expensive medications are common. In severe cases, the error might lead to a long term or permanent disability. Such a condition will interfere with the patient’s ability to work. Lost wages can lead to the disruption of other bills, which can quickly place the victim in financial hardship. If the injury is due to the breach of duty of a medical professional or facility, a successful medical malpractice claim can help to cover the costs of all of these expenses.
Suing negligent healthcare providers can heal reform the United States healthcare system, protecting other people from similar harm. Medical malpractice errors cause many preventable injuries each year, and are the third leading cause of fatality in the world. If these errors are caught and negligent providers are held accountable, they are more likely to use extra care when treating patients in the future.
If medical neglgience caused you to suffer a severe personal injury, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at DePaolo & Zadeikis. 312-263-7560.
Damages are the monetary compensation that is awarded to the plaintiff in a lawsuit if the responsible party has been found to be the cause of the injury. The damages awarded in a medical malpractice case include economic and non-economic costs that are calculated and added together for the total settlement or jury award. Economic damages are the direct costs that have occurred because of the injury, like medical bills. Non-economic damages are more subjective, and not tied to a set monetary value.
You can recover past and future medical bills if your claim is successful. Any medical expenses associated with the injury, prescriptions, and costs of a caregiver can all be included. If the injury led to permanent disability, then the costs of medical devices can also be included in the claim.
Wages that would have been earned if not for the injury, as well as any missed opportunities, can be calculated into the claim. If the injury was severe enough to impact future earnings or force the injured party to have to seek a lower paying job due to loss of ability, the difference in pay can also be included into the claim.
If the injury lead to physical pain or emotional stress, you can receive compensation for your pain and suffering. Examples of this include temporary and permanent aches, loss of physical ability, depression, scarring, and shortening of life. The jury will consider the severity of your injuries and how they impact your life to determine the value of your pain and suffering damages.
A wrongful death suit is filed by the family of the party that died due to the negligence of the medical provider. In a wrongful death lawsuit, the spouse, children, and/or parents can receive compensation for their own losses that occurred because of the loved one’s passing. By filing a survival action, the victim’s estate may also recover compensation for the harm the deceased suffered between the time he or she was injured and the time of the death.
Loss of enjoyment of life occurs when damage from an event causes the person to not have the ability to do physical or mental activities he or she could previously. It must be proven that these are activities or hobbies that he or she participated in prior to the injury, and he or she is unable to do so after the injury was obtained.
In Illinois, the loss of consortium is defined as the lack of society, companionship, and sexual relationship with a spouse due to the injury. This might include a patient who is no longer able to perform the normal duties of the marriage, giving his or her partner the loss of a normal relationship.
The total cost of a medical malpractice lawsuit will depend on various factors, including the cost of medical experts, required investigations, and your attorney’s fees. A more experienced injury attorney who has a track record of success may be more expensive than someone who is less experienced, but your chances of winning your case will be better. At DePaolo & Zadeikis, our attorneys accept injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You won’t owe any fees until your case is won. If we don’t recover compensation on your behalf, you don’t pay.
Medical malpractice cases are typically resolved in one to four years from the discovery date. While some cases are resolved fairly quickly, more complicated cases can take significantly longer to resolve. If your medical malpractice case involves severe injuries or death and substantial damages, or negligence is not clear-cut, the defendant’s attorneys will fight harder. Investigations will be more lengthy, and multiple medical experts may be involved. As a result, your case may take years to reach a fair settlement or jury verdict.
A patient may have a medical malpractice claim if the treatment that was prescribed is not working, if they remain undiagnosed after basic tests, or if their condition significantly worsens after treatment. If another doctor has given a different diagnosis or the hospital or facility seemed understaffed at the time of treatment, these may also point to improper care. If you suspect that you’re a victim of medical negligence, you should get a second or third opinion from a medical professional, and then contact an attorney.
The average settlement for medical malpractice will vary depending on the severity of the victim’s injuries and how they impact that person’s life. There is no cap on damages for Chicago medical malpractice cases. Victims can recover full and fair compensation for the totality of their losses.
The time limit to file an Illinois medical malpractice claim is two years. This is known as the statute of limitations. The date that the statute of limitations begins to run is not when the medical services were received by the patient, but rather when the patient discovers the error. Tolling, or the pause of the statute of limitations, may apply in some cases.
Studies have found that juries seem to favor the medical provider when they are returning verdicts in a medical malpractice case. The weaker the evidence, the more likely that a jury will return in favor of the provider instead of the injured party. Retaining a top medical malpractice lawyer can greatly improve the odds of a claimant receiving a favorable verdict.
