Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is negligence by a medical professional that does not meet the generally accepted standard of care and results in injury or death. A medical professional can make a negligent act during diagnosis, treatment, or surgery, or something the medical professional should have done but neglected to do.
It is highly unlikely that your doctor will admit to making a mistake that led to your condition getting worse, but these mistakes can turn a person’s life upside down. Many things can go wrong when treating an illness or injury that may not be obvious to the average person right away. An illness or injury that could seem unrelated may appear after treatment or surgery. Negligence by health care professionals is the third leading cause of death in the United States. That is why our Chicago-based medical malpractice lawyers take such cases so seriously.
Our attorneys take a comprehensive approach to every single case:
- Thoroughly reviewing medical records
- Regularly consulting with medical experts
- Effectively negotiating on behalf of injury victims to make sure they receive the maximum compensation
In order for a medical malpractice claim to be successful, four elements have to be established:
- A duty of care – There needs to have been a relationship in which you were the patient, and the other party was a medical professional responsible for your care.
- Breach of duty – The medical professional must have violated the duty of care while treating you. Our medical experts can describe the standard of care that would be expected under the circumstances. It must be shown that the medical professional did not meet those standards during your treatment.
- Causation – It must be proven that the breach of duty was a direct cause of your injury. The medical professional may try to claim that your injury was caused by something else. Our medical experts can help show a direct link between the professional’s negligence and your injury.
- Damages – You must be able to prove that you were injured. Damages can be economic, such as medical bills. They can also be non-economic, such as emotional distress.
Any party that provides medical care could be held responsible: hospitals, doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners, and hospital support staff, among others.
We will conduct our own investigation into your case to look for signs of negligence. This includes reviewing medical records, talking to experts, doing a background check of the doctor or other medical professionals, and interviewing witnesses. When we can establish all of the necessary elements in your case, we will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
If you have been a victim of medical malpractice, contact Deratany & Kosner. We will work relentlessly to get you the compensation you need.
Call 800-529-7285 and set up a free case consultation to discuss your legal options.
TYPES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Some of the common types of medical malpractice cases we handle include:
When we visit our doctors, we rely on them for guidance and to provide answers to our questions. Deratany & Kosner knows how critical it is for patients to receive a prompt and accurate diagnosis. A failure to diagnose a medical condition, a misdiagnosis of an existing condition, or failure to treat a condition properly can seriously derail a person’s chance of a successful recovery.
A failure to diagnose, or a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or other diagnostic errors may include any of the following cases:
- Misinterpretation of tests
- Delayed diagnosis of cancer
- Failure to order a biopsy
- Failure to order necessary lab or medical tests
- Failure to properly analyze lab results
- Failure to refer to a specialist
- Failure to monitor changes in a patient’s progression of a misdiagnosed disease
No matter how or why your misdiagnosis occurred, we are ready to help.
People trust doctors to make accurate diagnoses and provide prompt treatment when they have a life-threatening medical condition like cancer. But when a doctor makes a diagnosing error of any kind, the results can have grave consequences. Unfortunately, many doctors are not willing to admit they made a mistake when misdiagnosing cancer. They will often insist they did everything they could to treat your condition.
At Deratany & Kosner, our experienced attorneys understand that a cancer misdiagnosis is among the most serious – and potentially fatal – errors a medical professional can make. We provide victims with honest advice and have access to some of the state’s top medical experts.
Doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals are relied upon to make quick decisions before, during, and after surgery that can determine a patient’s health for years to come. But for any number of reasons, potentially life-threatening complications can arise during surgery due to human factors that are ultimately avoidable.
Examples of surgical errors include:
- Use of improperly sterilized equipment
- Operating on the wrong body part or patient
- Negligent amputation
- Anesthesia errors
- Unsanitary conditions that lead to infection
- Leaving surgical tools inside a patient’s body cavity
A surgical error can result in years of health complications, further medical procedures, and an inability to return life back to normal or even prove to be fatal. Our experienced legal team can help hold surgeons responsible and fight for the compensation you deserve.
If you or a loved one has to visit a hospital emergency room, your life will depend on split-second judgments made by medical professionals and other staff members. In this high-pressure environment, if doctors, nurses, surgeons, or other staff members make mistakes, you or a loved one may be left with life-changing injuries or even a victim of wrongful death.
Examples of emergency room errors made by hospital staff members include:
- Failure to treat blood clot or pulmonary embolism
- Failure to treat a medical condition
- Failure to diagnose a disease or condition
- Medication errors
- Emergency surgery errors
- Reading a medical chart or lab test incorrectly
- Discharging a patient too soon
Deratany & Kosner can hold negligent doctors, surgeons, nurse practitioners, and other professionals accountable for their actions.
Medication errors put people at risk of serious and potentially fatal injuries. When medicinal miscalculations are made, a patient’s conditions may be left untreated, or the drugs can create even more problems. As a result, the patient’s health is put at risk, and they may even suffer a wrongful death. The medical malpractice attorneys at Deratany & Kosner fight for the rights of victims of medication errors and many other types of medical malpractice cases.
There are many different types of medication errors. They include:
- Being prescribed or given the wrong medication
- A reaction to a dangerous drug combination
- Receiving a dangerous dosage of a powerful drug
- Failing to receive needed medication while in a hospital
When you talk to one of our attorneys, you will get straightforward advice. If you are represented by us, you can rest assured your case is in the hands of an experienced malpractice attorney.
When hospitals fail to ensure that health and safety standards are met, patients may develop life-threatening infections and suffer unnecessary infections. In most cases, these infections are a result of negligence by someone at the hospital such as failing to provide sanitary equipment, hospital staff failing to wash their hands, poor ventilation, moving promptly, or other preventable causes.
Common types of infections people experience at hospitals include:
- Staph infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Pneumonia
- Surgical site infections
Deratany & Kosner represents people whose health has been put at risk as a result of these preventable mistakes.
How An Attorney Can Help
An experienced medical malpractice attorney who knows how to prove negligence and recover damages. Medical malpractice cases are complicated and it takes time to build a successful claim. Our attorneys will conduct a thorough investigation into what happened.
As your attorney, we will:
- Examine your medical records carefully to look for any evidence of mistakes.
- Review the background of the medical professional involved to look for evidence of previous examples of malpractice or questionable judgment.
- Consult with medical experts to determine if proper procedures and standards were followed.
- Interview witnesses who were present during your treatment.
- Our attorneys leave nothing unexamined. If there is evidence that a medical professional in your case was negligent, we will find it. And when we are able to prove medical negligence, we can help you file a claim to recover damages for your injury.
Our attorneys know the tricks that insurance companies play. And we know how to move your case forward until we get results. Many times, we are able to negotiate a favorable settlement. But if they want to go to trial, we’ll be ready to fight them in court.
Learn more about how Deratany & Kosner can help you with your medical malpractice case. Call us today at 312-857-7285. We offer a free case consultation.