When To Contact A Medical Malpractice Attorney In Mokena

If You Suspect Negligence, Reach Out to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Mokena

Becoming a licensed medical practitioner requires a high degree of intelligence, dedication, hard work, and training. Consequently, the vast majority of the medical professionals whose services you seek when you’re injured or sick are individuals dedicated to providing the best care possible. Nevertheless, they are human, and like all of us, they can and do make mistakes. Unfortunately, these errors can have devastating effects.

If you, or a loved one, have been harmed due to an error effectuated by a medical professional, it may be a case of medical malpractice. We recommend that you seek the advice of our experienced medical malpractice lawyers in Plainfield. If the error was caused by negligence or failure to follow accepted protocol, we can assist you in filing a medical malpractice claim.

The Definition of Medical Malpractice

The term “medical malpractice” describes any case in which a healthcare provider causes harm to a patient by deviating from an established standard of care. This means, in layman’s terms, that a medical professional has failed to fulfill their duty up to the same standard as another professional, in the same or similar situation, would have. It is essential to remember, however, that if a given medical procedure does not go according to plan, that alone does not necessarily constitute medical malpractice.

The Prevalence of Medical Malpractice

Unfortunately, medical malpractice is far more common than you might think. For example, medical safety experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine, one of the most highly respected medical facilities in the nation, recently analyzed medical death data over an eight-year period and calculated that more than 250,000 deaths a year occur in the U.S due to medical error.

These statistics indicate that medical malpractice, in one form or another, has become the third leading cause of death in the nation, ranking only behind heart disease and cancer. You can find the most recent statistics from 2020 here.

The Most Common Types of Medical Malpractice

Listed here are six of the most common types of medical malpractice.

• Missed or delayed diagnosis. When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition, or fails to diagnose a condition over an extended period of time, patients could be deprived of treatments that might have prevented serious harm or death. The key here is clearly showing what the treating doctor did wrong and how a more competent doctor would have diagnosed the condition, or diagnosed it in a more timely manner.
• Childbirth injuries – A physician’s negligence can occur either before or during childbirth. Negligent prenatal care includes, among other things, failure to diagnose a medical condition or disease of the mother that could harm or infect the fetus, failure to identify birth defects and failure to identify ectopic pregnancies.
  Additionally, errors during childbirth can harm both the mother and child. The most common of these include failure to anticipate birth complications, failure to respond to signs of fetal distress, failure to order a cesarean section when appropriate, and incompetent use of forceps or a vacuum extractor.
• Medication errors – These occur when a doctor or other medical professional makes a mistake with the initial prescription, administers a drug inappropriately, or fails to note a potentially harmful drug interaction. In hospitals, a common error is mixing up patient medication between patients.
• Anesthesia errors – These are relatively infrequent, but they can lead to permanent injury, brain damage or death. Before surgery, anesthesia errors include failure to investigate the patient’s medical history or failing to inform the patient of certain preoperative instructions, such as not eating for a certain period of time before surgery. During surgery, serious errors involve giving too much anesthesia to the patient, failure to monitor patient vital signs, improper intubation (putting a tube in the trachea to assist breathing), and using defective equipment.
• Surgical errors – These include negligence during surgery, such as puncturing an organ or blood vessel, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving surgical equipment inside the body. Following surgery, the nursing staff might also provide inadequate care which could lead to complications such as a serious infection.
• Pharmacy errors – While a lesser-known type of medical malpractice, pharmaceutical mistakes can have serious, life-altering consequences. Common errors include dispensing the wrong medication or failing to consider a patient’s health history and dispensing medication that might cause a serious allergic reaction or drug interaction.
  In cases of a possible allergic reaction or interference with another prescribed medication, the pharmacist should notify both the patient and the prescribing physician of the potential problem.

Steps you should take

If you or a family member become the victim of medical malpractice, you should do the following:

• Document everything you can. Because being hospitalized, or going to the doctor for any type of procedure, can be a scary and stressful time, it is easy to forget important details. Document dates and times, medications and dosages, and the names of doctors and nurses. Be detailed and timely in your notes if possible.
  Documenting details when it comes to your medical care can be helpful even if you are not contemplating a lawsuit.
• Never hesitate to ask questions. While asking questions of health-care providers can be intimidating, you should never hesitate to ask any question you feel is important. The answers to these questions can be pivotal in getting the damages you deserve. Ask how your injuries occurred and how they will be remedied – as a patient, you have a right to know what happened.
• Request your medical records. You are entitled to all your medical records according to Illinois law – so never take “no” for an answer! They are your records, and you are entitled to have a complete set of copies.

Hire an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you believe you, or someone you love, has suffered medical malpractice in Mokena, Illinois or anywhere throughout the surrounding area, time is your enemy. Under Illinois law, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is two years. If you, or a family member, have been the victim of a serious medical error, we urge you to contact the firm of Block, Klukas, Manzella & Shell, and give us the opportunity to provide the highest quality legal assistance.

Our medical malpractice attorneys can help you recover compensation for the harm caused, as well as any potential future costs related to the malpractice case. We’ll carefully review your injury – physical, mental or emotional – and help you get the full settlement amount you are entitled to.

Even if you are unsure of whether or not an injury is related to medical malpractice, we recommend consulting with an experienced lawyer to discuss your possible options. Never let financial hardship complicate an already painful situation – call us today to schedule your free consultation with our personal injury law firm today.