Don’t Wait – Call Wettermark Keith for a Free Consultation With Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Walking into a clinic or a hospital typically involves some degree of trust. It’s an unspoken agreement that the professional in white coats you’re entrusting with your health will uphold the highest standard of their profession – to “do no harm.” This trust is too often misplaced. Every year, an estimated 12 million Americans are misdiagnosed, over 1.7 million suffer infections in hospitals, and around 250,000 die from medical mistakes – the third highest cause of death in the United States.
It’s important to recognize the immense strains placed on healthcare providers. Doctors typically work 40-60 hours per week on average, with nearly 40% exceeding 60 hours. Factors like understaffing, overtime, paperwork overload, 16+ hour shifts, and too many patients can easily lead to oversights. Nevertheless, while these factors may explain medical mistakes, they do not excuse negligence. Legal standards demand healthcare providers maintain a level of care equal to their professional peers. If they fail to do so, they must be held accountable – you should not have to bear alone the emotional, physical and financial consequences of their mistake.
Maybe you received a defective hip or knee implant, like the recalled Exactech devices, that caused severe complications and required painful revision surgery. Or your loved one had a poorly-designed IVC filter implanted to prevent pulmonary embolisms, only for it to fracture and migrate, causing life-threatening internal bleeding. Or imagine your mother goes in for a simple knee replacement surgery. Instead of walking out on her new knee, she’s wheeled into the ICU with a severe postoperative infection – all because surgical equipment wasn’t properly sterilized.
These breaches of trust carry a steep human cost. A careless mistake can be the difference between a child’s first day of school and a lifetime of specialized care. It can mean the difference between growing old with a loved one and mourning their premature passing. In a society where healthcare is both complex and critical for survival, there’s no room for compromise on quality or ethics. If you’ve suffered an injury or worsened condition as a result of medical malpractice, your voice deserves to be heard. Contact Wettermark Keith’s medical malpractice attorneys today at (877) 899-7644 for a free consultation. Our experienced team will listen to your story with compassion, advocate for your rights throughout the process, and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
Common Grounds for Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice claims can be based on a variety of situations, including:
- Failure of a doctor or medical provider to diagnose serious conditions like cancer or heart disease in a timely manner.
- Surgical mistakes, such as operating on the wrong body part or leaving a foreign object inside a patient.
- Anesthesia errors leading to a harmful or fatal outcome for a patient.
- Medication mistakes, like a doctor administering the wrong drug to a patient or causing an overdose.
- Preventable infections contracted during a hospital stay.
- Birth injuries, like cerebral palsy, caused by negligence of a medical provider during delivery.
The Four Pillars of a Medical Malpractice Claim
For a claim to be valid according to medical malpractice laws, four fundamental criteria must be established:
Duty of Care – A doctor-patient or nurse-patient relationship must exist. All licensed medical professionals owe a duty of care to patients under their treatment. This includes physicians, nurses, dentists, therapists and more.
Breach of Duty – The medical provider must have deviated from accepted medical standards and failed to deliver necessary care. Mistakes leading to patient harm, such as an inaccurate diagnosis or preventable post-operative infection, constitute a breach of duty.
Causation – The breach of duty must directly cause tangible harm. This can be demonstrated through evidence, such as medical records and expert testimony.
Damages – Quantifiable losses, both economic and non-economic, must occur as a result of the provider’s negligence. This includes medical costs, lost wages, disability, pain and suffering, and even wrongful death. Damages validate the real-world impact of the provider’s malpractice.
All four elements must be present to merit a malpractice claim. Ultimately, the healthcare provider must have (1) owed a duty of care which (2) they breached through substandard care that (3) demonstrably caused (4) harm or injury to the patient. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys can assess the specifics of your case to determine if your situation meets these criteria.
If You Suspect You Have a Claim…
Surviving medical negligence can leave you traumatized, overwhelmed, and unsure of how to even begin seeking justice. In this situation, the initial steps you take are critical for a future claim. Here is what you can do if you believe malpractice has occurred:
Document Your Story – document in as much detail as possible the timeline of events leading up to and following the incident/s of suspected malpractice. Keep notes of relevant conversations, dates of treatment, names of providers involved, and the development of any injuries or conditions. Photos and videos can also help capture critical evidence.
Gather Medical Records – obtain complete documentation of your care, including charts, diagnostic reports, surgical notes, prescriptions, specialist referrals, hospital discharge papers, and anything else related to your treatment. Comprehensive records establish a timeline.
Seek Medical Opinions – consult with independent specialists and get their expert opinion on whether your care met or deviated from accepted medical standards. Their testimony strengthens claims of negligence.
Act Quickly – every state has strict statutes of limitations on the time frame to take legal action, often just 1 or 2 years from the date of injury or discovery of negligence. Do not delay consulting a malpractice attorney.
Find an Advocate – contact an attorney experienced in medical malpractice litigation. Legal expertise is crucial to successfully advocating for your rights and securing fair compensation for your losses. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys can guide you through the complexities of establishing your case, negotiating settlements, and pursuing litigation. They will seek out and evaluate all available evidence in your case, advise you of your rights and options, deal directly with hospital insurers, and fight tirelessly to ensure you receive maximum compensation for your suffering.
