Patients trust their doctors and other health care practitioners to carefully apply their skills and experience when delivering medical care. Unfortunately, medical malpractice can occur in numerous ways and leave victims with serious or life-threatening injuries. Proving malpractice isn’t easy and requires more than showing the medical professional made a mistake. If you were given substandard care or suffered injury or disease because of your medical treatment, let a skilled Granite City medical malpractice attorney at Albers Injury Law review your case and seek the justice you deserve.
What Is Considered Medical Malpractice?
While the law does not require healthcare practitioners to be perfect, it does expect doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to conduct themselves reasonably in light of the patient’s unique circumstances. They are expected to carefully apply their training and experience to deliver quality care. Medical malpractice is more than a mistake.
As defined by the National Institutes of Health, medical malpractice is:
- Any act or omission by a physician during the treatment of a patient
- That deviates from accepted norms of practice in the medical community and
- That causes injury to the patient
Malpractice is essentially doing or failing to do something that is expected of all similarly situated professionals. It is a departure from the accepted standards of care that amounts to negligence.
Most Common Types of Medical Malpractice in Granite City
Malpractice can occur in any medical context but is more likely in high-risk situations, such as surgery, birth, being administered anesthesia, and being prescribed medication. The most common types of medical malpractice include the following:
Missed diagnosis: This occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose an illness or condition that another doctor, in the same or similar circumstances, would not reasonably have missed. A mistake like this could cause serious injury or death to the patient.
Incorrect diagnosis: A doctor can either diagnose a condition as too serious or not serious enough. In the former, determining that a condition is worse than it really is can lead to unnecessary and risky medical treatments. In the latter, concluding that the patient’s ailment isn’t serious may mean he or she doesn’t receive the necessary treatments.
Medication mistakes: A patient may be prescribed or dispensed the wrong medication, an incorrect dosage, or a medicine that conflicts with something the patient is already taking. In addition to doctors, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians could be at fault.
Surgical errors: There are many types of errors that fall under this category, such as operating on the wrong part of the body, leaving surgical tools inside the patient, and making mistakes with anesthesia. In some cases, these errors can be life-threatening or cause avoidable injuries.
Disregard for the patient’s condition: Some medical professionals simply do not take their patients’ needs and concerns seriously. They may refuse to ask pertinent questions or fail to devise treatments that actually address the patient’s medical issues.
Patient mix-ups: Due to mix-ups with the patient records, some doctors or nurses administer the correct treatment but to the wrong patient. This may result in two victims: the doctor’s actual patient who was deprived of the treatment and the patient who incorrectly received it.
Medical negligence leading to death: Any type of medical error listed above can result in a patient’s death. Eligible survivors can file a claim against the negligent healthcare provider.
What Steps Should I Take if I’ve Been a Victim of Medical Malpractice?
If you’re a victim of medical malpractice, the steps you take next could be critical to protecting your health and your right to seek compensation. You should do the following:
Talk to an attorney: A Granite City medical malpractice lawyer can review your situation and advise if you have a case. The sooner you speak with an attorney, the more likely you are to make a strong claim.
Document your condition: Obtain copies of all medical records related to your condition or ailment. This includes anything from doctors you have seen who diagnosed or documented your underlying medical problem.
Document your treatment: Included here is anything related to medications, treatments, procedures, rehabilitation, and specialist referrals you received concerning your condition.
Document the treatment results: Your attorney will want to know what effect the doctor’s recommendations and treatments had on your health. Included here may be any steps your doctor may have taken to correct any mistakes he or she made.
How Can a Granite City Medical Malpractice Attorney Help My Claim?
The doctor or facility that committed malpractice will have aggressive legal counsel and insurance companies backing them. You can’t afford not to have your own representation. Our firm can assist with such things as the following:
- Investigating the circumstances of your injuries
- Acquiring additional documentation to support your claim
- Speaking with witnesses in the hospital or other facility who may have knowledge about the malpractice
- Mediating the dispute with the insurers and attorneys representing the at-fault doctor or facility
- Negotiating a settlement, if possible, that fairly compensates you
- Hiring expert witnesses who can explain the applicable standard of care and how the healthcare professional fell short of it
- Taking your case to court, if necessary
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
While settlement is always a possibility, some insurers and lawyers simply refuse to negotiate in good faith. In a situation like this, filing a medical malpractice lawsuit may be necessary. As the patient, the obligation rests with you to prove negligence on the part of the medical professional or facility. This means establishing the following elements:
- Duty of care: Documentation of the doctor-patient relationship helps meet this element, along with an explanation of the applicable standard of care.
- Breach: This is met by demonstrating that the medical professional fell short of the standard of care (for example, incorrectly diagnosing a disease).
- Causation: The breach must have caused some sort of injury to the patient; a mistake with no consequences for the patient doesn’t meet this requirement for malpractice.
- Damages: Lastly, the patient must have incurred damages, such as additional medical expenses, to correct the mistake or pain and suffering.
Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney in Granite City, IL Today About Your Case
We understand the stress you are likely dealing with in knowing that your treatment was erroneous. No one deserves to have to undergo more medical procedures to correct another doctor’s mistakes, all while missing time from work and other losses. Our firm is here to win the compensation you deserve for your medical malpractice injuries. Connect with Albers Injury Law, LLC today.