Medical Malpractice in Chicago

You go to the doctor to get well, yet medical malpractice takes the lives of about 98,000 people in the United States every year. Survivors of malpractice can face huge medical expenses and extensive care in order to recover or even make a partial recovery. Many are permanently disabled.

Sadly, only a small percentage of malpractice victims seek compensation. Most victims are so consumed with what they must do to try and survive or recover from the damage done to their bodies that they simply don’t feel up to pursuing legal action.

But obtaining just compensation may be the only way they can afford the care they truly need. On top of that, facing lawsuits for malpractice are often the only incentive that health care professionals have to clean up their act.

Where to start

If you believe that you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice you should take the following steps right away:

· Contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

· Get copies of all of your medical records, and do it quickly before someone has the chance to falsify information or “lose” documents.

· Keep the receipts for all of your expenses caused by the malpractice. This can include hotel, gas, and meal receipts if travel is required, receipts for extra child care costs, anything and everything. They may not all apply to your case, but you attorney can sort that out for you.

· Keep records of all lost income cause by the malpractice including the lost income of the victim and anyone who had to miss work to help care for them.

· Write down everything that has happened, and keep an ongoing journal. Start this right away, before the details fade from your mind. Record how it has changed your life and the impact that it has every day.

· Seek an independent medical assessment. If you work with an experienced medical malpractice attorney, your attorney will probably recommend a specialist that they know and trust, and the expense may be deferred until you reach a resolution in your case.

Malpractice is not limited to doctors

Individual health care professionals, as well as the institutions they work for can be held responsible for malpractice. This includes not only doctors and surgeons, but dentists, psychiatrists, nurses, emergency room staff, and of course hospitals and other facilities.

What is medical malpractice?

An unfavorable outcome alone does not constitute malpractice. Even when doctors provide the very best care, things can go wrong or the condition may not respond.

Medical malpractice is treatment by any type of health care professional that does not meet the standard level of care and causes to the patient. This includes taking an inappropriate action or failing to take a necessary action.

Some common types of malpractice include birth injuries, emergency room errors, surgical errors, anesthesia error, diagnostic error, and medication error.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are very complex. You need the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney who knows how to properly investigate your case and what types of specialists will be needed to form a proper assessment of your condition and the cause. Sometimes what appears to be a malpractice case turns out to be a defective product case caused by a defective drug or medical device. You need an attorney that can recognize the difference.