Bad medical outcomes in Naperville are considered malpractice when they occur due to the negligence of healthcare professionals or facilities. Not every bad medical outcome can be attributed to negligence. Learning the difference between unfortunate medical events and malpractice is crucial when you’re considering taking legal action against a healthcare provider for medical malpractice.
If you are a victim of medical malpractice in Naperville, don’t hesitate to contact Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch, and Turcy, LLC at 312-775-0042 for a free legal consultation.
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How to Identify Bad Medical Outcomes in Naperville
Medical malpractice cases often result from bad medical outcomes. However, not all negative outcomes qualify as medical malpractice. According to the American Medical Association, about 27% of adverse outcomes are caused by negligence. Some bad medical outcomes occur despite a healthcare provider’s best efforts and, as a result, are not considered medical malpractice. That may leave you wondering, what is medical malpractice in relation to bad medical outcomes in Naperville?
Elements That Confirm Medical Malpractice
There are four elements that must be present for the bad outcome you’ve suffered to be considered medical malpractice in Naperville:
Duty of Care
It must be established that the medical professional or healthcare facility owed you a duty of care. That requires the existence of an established provider-patient relationship. Healthcare providers owe a duty of care to their patients. Therefore, you must be a patient of the provider that caused the adverse outcome.
Breach of Duty
The healthcare provider must have violated that duty of care by failing to act in a manner that other providers would under the same circumstances.
Proximate Cause
That breach of duty must have directly led to the bad medical outcome.
Damages
Your injury must have led to actual damages that can be proven, such as a disability, physical pain, mental anguish, additional medical bills, and loss of a job or earning capacity.
If you experienced a negative medical outcome and your case meets all these four criteria, you may have a medical malpractice case. On the contrary, if a medical professional followed the expected standard of care and did everything right, but a bad outcome still happened, or the bad outcome wasn’t the result of what the doctor or nurse did, that wouldn’t be considered medical malpractice. A Naperville medical malpractice lawyer can help you determine if your case meets the criteria to establish that the negative outcome was medical malpractice.
Types of Medical Malpractice That Commonly Lead to Bad Outcomes
Understanding the common examples of medical malpractice can help you determine whether your poor outcome was caused by malpractice.
- Diagnosis errors: These include misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, and delayed diagnosis. These errors can allow a patient’s condition to become severe or even fatal.
- Surgical errors: Wrong site or patient surgery, leaving instruments in a patient, and anesthesia errors are some examples of surgical errors. The complications that these errors could cause could lead to the need for additional surgeries.
- Birth injuries: These often result from improper medical care during pregnancy and delivery, such as failure to catch a mother’s health condition and failure to monitor vital signs during labor. Over 25,000 women suffer unintended consequences of labor and delivery each year.
- Medication errors: Mistakes during prescribing, dispensing, or giving medicines could cause severe, avoidable harm. According to Lown Institute, 5 million older Americans sought medical attention for adverse drug effects in 2018.
- Lack of informed consent: Failure to seek a patient’s informed consent is considered medical malpractice if the patient goes on to suffer harm.
Signs of Bad Outcomes Caused by Medical Malpractice
Recognizing medical malpractice signs is important if you want to take action after a poor medical outcome. Common red flags that signal a medical provider may have committed malpractice include:
Persistent or Worsening Symptoms
You may be receiving inappropriate medical care if you’re experiencing the same symptoms or your condition is worsening despite receiving treatment.
Poor Communication
Poor communication can take several forms, such as a doctor failing to explain the risks of a procedure and seek informed consent, you not being involved in the decision-making process regarding your treatment, and your provider being dismissive of your questions or concerns.
Admission of Fault
A clear red flag is if someone from the medical team apologizes to you or a loved one or acknowledges a fault committed by himself or herself or a colleague.
Understaffed Facility
When a hospital has staffing shortages, patients may not get the necessary level of care from the existing overworked staff. Tired and overworked medical professionals are more likely to make mistakes.
Different Second Opinion
Getting a second opinion from another medical professional that differs from your doctor’s diagnosis could indicate your original treatment was inappropriate.
What Are the Legal Implications of Medical Malpractice in Illinois?
In Illinois, medical malpractice victims can file a claim or lawsuit against the reckless or negligent party to recover compensation for their damages. Hundreds of millions of dollars are paid out each year in Illinois medical malpractice claims. According to National Practitioner Data Bank statistics, the total medical malpractice payouts in Illinois in 2023 had reached $187 million by the end of September.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
Any healthcare providers that owe their patients a duty of care can be held liable for medical malpractice. Therefore, besides doctors, many other individual medical professionals and treatment facilities, such as nurses, surgeons, dentists, chiropractors, emergency room staff, hospitals, and clinics, can be held liable.
What Damages Can You Recover?
“What damages can I seek in a medical malpractice case?” is a common question among malpractice victims. Illinois law allows medical malpractice victims to recover economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are quantifiable monetary losses. They include medical bills, cost of future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and household expenses. Non-economic damages are the non-monetary losses resulting from medical malpractice. These may include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, and scarring and disfigurement.
There are no caps on the amount of damages victims can recover in medical malpractice cases in Illinois. The amount of damages you’ll be awarded will depend on the circumstances of your case.
Time Limits
Time is a critical consideration when pursuing a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit in Illinois. Illinois limits the time you have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. You may lose your right to seek compensation if you miss the strict deadlines.
Generally, the time limit or statute of limitations for filing medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois is two years from the date you knew or should’ve known about your injury. Overall, a medical malpractice case in Illinois must be filed within four years of the date the medical malpractice occurred.
There are a few exceptions where the statute of limitations can be extended, such as cases involving people with legal disabilities and children. Illinois law allows up to eight years from the date of the injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a child under 18 years old. However, the lawsuit must be filed before the child’s 22nd birthday.
Steps to Take if You Suspect Medical Malpractice
If you or a loved one experienced a bad medical outcome, and you suspect that medical malpractice was a factor, you should take the following steps to protect your health and give yourself the best chance of obtaining fair and just compensation.
Request Your Medical Records
Illinois law entitles you to copies of your medical records. Obtaining your medical records swiftly will allow you to gain insight into the tests and procedures you underwent and the treatment you received. It could be a crucial piece of evidence in a medical malpractice case.
Consult Another Medical Professional
Seeking a second opinion from another doctor could help determine whether there was medical malpractice from your previous treatment. He or she could pinpoint the substandard care or mistakes that affected your outcome.
Document Everything
Write down everything that happened, including your symptoms, treatments, and the medical professionals involved. You can document your injuries in writing and photos. Keep a journal to capture how your injuries impact your daily life and family.
Talk to a Lawyer
It’s critical to consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney. An attorney will help you understand your rights better and conduct a detailed review of your case to determine if it meets the criteria for medical malpractice. Navigating a medical malpractice case while dealing with a poor medical outcome can be challenging. A medical malpractice attorney can help you file your claim correctly, navigate the legal process, and comply with the state’s statutory requirements.
Your lawyer will help you gather evidence and represent you in settlement negotiations with healthcare providers and their insurers, or in court if needed. If you are a victim of medical malpractice in Naperville, reach out to the medical malpractice lawyers at Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch, and Turcy, LLC. Contact us today so we can start working together to seek justice against negligent healthcare providers.