When you visit a doctor, you expect them to be professional and to take care of you. They’re supposed to treat your illness or fix a problem. What they’re not supposed to do is cause you more pain and suffering or make your health worse. You shouldn’t be worried that going to the doctor will kill you.
They’re the medical professional who’s supposed to know what they’re doing. You’re relying on them and putting your life in their hands. It’s a big responsibility, but that’s what they signed up for. When a healthcare professional is negligent and commits medical malpractice, it’s you and your family who suffers most.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical practice occurs when a healthcare professional or hospital causes injury or death to a patient. The injury may occur through omission or negligence. Negligence can happen at any stage of care including diagnosis, treatment, aftercare, and health management. Ultimately, you’re injured or become ill because a healthcare professional didn’t provide the treatment they should have or they didn’t pay enough attention -- either to you or to what they were doing.
For a medical malpractice claim to be considered viable, it has to meet three specific criteria. If one element is missing, you won’t have a case.
- Violation of standard of care: There’s a basic level of care that every healthcare professional should be able to provide. If your healthcare provider didn’t meet this basic requirement, they’ve violated the standard of care that you should be able to expect.
- Negligence: You have to be able to show that your injury wouldn’t have happened if your doctor or other healthcare provider hadn’t been negligent. In some cases, the injury would have occurred even if your healthcare provider had done everything right.
- Significant damage and loss: Because of your injury, you may suffer severe losses -- physical or mental disability, death, loss of income, pain, and suffering, serious hardship, and expensive medical bills.
Types of Medical Malpractice
Between 15,000 and 19,000 medical malpractice lawsuits are filed each year. While the list below isn’t fully comprehensive, the reasons listed are some of the most common cases.
- Misdiagnosis
- Unnecessary surgery
- Being discharged from care too soon
- Not ordering correct tests
- Failing to follow up
- Prescribing wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication
- Operating on the wrong part of your body
- Leaving foreign objects in your body
- Infections or bed sores acquired while in the hospital
Your personal injury claim may be different. If you think that your healthcare provider or doctor did something wrong and caused your injury, you may have a medical malpractice claim.
How an Attorney Can Help
If you think you might be the victim of medical malpractice, it’s important that you contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. They can offer advice based on their experience and let you know the statute of limitations for your specific case and what you can expect to happen during the process. A good personal injury lawyer will answer your questions and help you understand what your options are.
For the pain and suffering, injury, and medical bills you’ve had to deal with, you deserve compensation. Due to their negligence, you may be permanently harmed. It can be daunting to go up against a hospital or a powerful surgeon, but your attorney will fight for you and make sure you get what you deserve. Your attorney will gather evidence and present your side of the situation to the court.
Nevada has passed extremely restrictive medical malpractice laws in recent years. Personal injury attorney practices like ours have had to make difficult decisions about what cases too. At Ed Bernstein and Associates, we currently only accept these types of medical malpractice cases:
- Wrongful death of your loved one
- Paraplegia or some other devastating injury that created medical bills or wage losses that exceed $100,000
- Dental malpractice that resulted in a major injury or death
- Birth trauma such as cerebral palsy or HIE brain injury
Conclusion
Medical malpractice is something should be taken very seriously. We all depend on healthcare providers to keep us healthy and safe while we’re in their care. Their “care” shouldn’t traumatize, harm, or kill you or anyone you love. You and your family deserve justice, and that healthcare provider should compensate you and your family for your losses.
If you believe you or someone in your family has been the victim of medical malpractice, contact a lawyer immediately. You may have a case that compensates you for your suffering and your loss.