If you suspect medical malpractice is responsible for your injury or illness, you can seek compensation for your damages. An Illinois medical malpractice attorney can review your case and explain common examples of medical malpractice that impact patients following medical procedures. Illinois laws require medical professionals to provide an acceptable standard of care to patients to prevent patient injuries, illnesses, disabilities, and death.
If you are injured by medical malpractice in Illinois, call Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch, and Turcy, LLC in Naperville for a free consultation, 312-775-0042.
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What Are some Examples of Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when a patient experiences injury, illness, or death caused by a medical professional. If a patient is harmed by a medical professional who deviates from the acceptable standard medical practices and procedures, the medical professional can be held liable for damages under Illinois law.
In medical malpractice cases, the law compares the medical professional’s actions to acceptable standard medical care provided by other medical professionals with the same level of training. If the actions deviate and lead to patient injuries, illness, or death, the medical professional can be held responsible for substandard patient care and medical malpractice.
Doctors take an oath to protect their patients from harm while patients are under their care. Lack of proper patient care or follow-up after surgery can result in a variety of serious health complications that can lead to delayed healing and recovery, life-threatening infections, and even the death of the patient.
Under medical malpractice laws, healthcare providers, including hospitals and surgery centers, physicians, surgeons, nurses and nurses aids, and lab technicians, can be held liable for medical malpractice. Under the same laws, manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies can be held liable if they fail to warn consumers of harm from drug side effects. Illinois courts may also hold them liable for the sale of defective medical devices and failure to warn patients of potential harm and health and injury risks.
In Illinois medical malpractice cases, experienced Naperville medical malpractice attorneys review important factors to establish a medical malpractice lawsuit:
- The duty of professional medical care owed to the patient
- The likelihood of patient harm
- The extent of patient harm
- Actual preparations taken by the medical professional to prevent patient harm
If you suspect your injury or illness is caused by medical malpractice, it’s best to contact an attorney to discuss your case. Medical malpractice claims are often complex, but your attorney knows state laws and can help you understand if you have a case. Attorneys are familiar with common examples of medical malpractice that cause injury, illness, disability, and death to patients.
Misdiagnosis
In Illinois, medical malpractice includes misdiagnosis of a patient’s illness or medical condition. In most cases, a proper medical diagnosis requires tests such as urine samples, blood tests, and lab tests including X-rays, MRIs, and ultrasounds. For the best outcome, a patient’s medical diagnosis should be established early to get an accurate assessment of the patient’s condition and provide a comprehensive treatment plan.
Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis can result in serious problems. For example, if a chest x-ray is read as normal, but actually shows a malignant tumor, the patient’s condition can lead to cancer and death. A misdiagnosis occurs when a healthcare professional fails to properly identify a medical condition. The most common misdiagnosis errors include:
- Missed Diagnosis – Failure to correctly identify a medical problem
- Delayed Diagnosis – Taking an unreasonably long time to diagnose a medical condition
- Incorrect Diagnosis – Diagnosing a patient with the wrong medical condition
- Failure to Recognize Related Conditions – Diagnosing one medical issue but failing to diagnose or test for related conditions
- Failure to Recognize Unrelated Conditions – Failing to recognize or diagnose problems linked to unrelated issues that are affecting a patient’s health
Misdiagnosis is one of the leading causes of emergency room errors in hospitals and outpatient medical centers. Each year, approximately 12 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the wrong condition. In 50% of these cases, the misdiagnosis has the potential to cause severe harm to the patient.
Medication Errors
Medications are commonly given to patients to relieve pain and improve or stabilize a medical condition, but they can also cause harm. According to a study by Johns Hopkins, 7,000 patient deaths per year are caused by medication errors. Johns Hopkins researchers note that medication errors are now the third leading cause of death for patients in the United States. These errors include 400,000 preventable drug-related hospital injuries, 530,000 medical errors in outpatient clinics, and 800,000 medication injuries in long-term care facilities and nursing homes. Common medication errors include:
- Prescribing the wrong medication
- Prescribing the wrong dosage
- Prescribing a medication to the wrong patient
- Giving incorrect instructions for taking a medication
- Giving IV medications with the wrong infusion rate
Surgical Errors
In the United States, healthcare and medical studies show that surgical errors occur at a high rate. According to reports, up to 20% of patient injuries occur in hospitals during surgical procedures, and most adverse events occur in pre-surgery and post-surgery patients. Common surgical errors include:
- Anesthesia errors
- Surgical equipment and foreign objects left inside patients
- Surgery performed on the wrong patient
- Surgery performed on the wrong body part or injury site
- Neglect of post-operative patient care and treatments
- Failure to follow up with patients after they leave the hospital
Surgical errors are common examples of medical malpractice that result in serious patient injuries, permanent disabilities, and even death. Following a surgical procedure, blood clots can form without any warning. Certain patients are at high risk of developing blood clots due to their age, obesity, genetics, or medical history. Patients should be checked for common symptoms of blood clots including chest pain, coughing up blood, dizziness, shortness of breath, and pain and swelling in the legs where blood clots often form.
Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Medical malpractice lawsuits can be complex and difficult to prove without an experienced medical malpractice attorney to oversee the case. The burden of proof always lies with the person who files the lawsuit (the plaintiff). To win the case, the plaintiff must prove that the hospital, doctor, nurse, surgeon, or other medical professional breached the duty of care and caused harm to the patient.
When medical malpractice occurs in Illinois, state laws allow victims to file legal actions in civil court against the guilty party or parties to recover compensation for damages. If the lawsuit is successful, the injured party can recover both economic and non-economic damages.
- Economic Damages – Economic damages are awarded for medical expenses such as hospital and emergency room visits, doctor visits, lab tests, and prescription medications, as well as damages for loss of income and loss of earning capacity.
- Non-Economic Damages – Non-economic damages are awarded for intangible damages that can not be assigned a monetary value. These damages include current and future emotional distress, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium.
Before filing a civil lawsuit, it’s important to understand what you should know about your medical malpractice claim. Your medical malpractice attorney can review your case, discuss trial procedures including timelines and delays, and explain medical negligence compensation examples and the value of your case. If you decide to pursue actions in court through a civil trial, your attorney must prove that the defendant is guilty of medical malpractice and a breach of duty to you (the plaintiff) to win the case. The burden of proof always lies with the plaintiff, the person who files the lawsuit against the other party (the defendant).
Your attorney may discuss a settlement agreement rather than going to court, as well as the differences between the two options and which option is best for you. One of the main differences is how long a medical malpractice case takes in civil court, compared to a settlement agreement that is determined out-of-court between attorneys for the plaintiff and the defendant.
In Illinois, it’s estimated that about 50% of medical malpractice cases proceed to a civil court trial and the other 50% are settled in an out-of-court settlement agreement between lawyers. Either way, working with a medical malpractice attorney who has the legal knowledge and experience in such complex cases will ensure the best result for you.
For more information on medical malpractice claims, contact us for a free consultation. Our Naperville attorneys can help you get the compensation you deserve.