Southern California Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Medical malpractice is a wrong committed by a doctor or other medical professional resulting in serious bodily harm. Serious negligence often leads to long-term disability, permanent injury, or in extreme cases, death. While not every negative medical outcome is a result of a doctor or hospital negligence, a lack of adherence to the generally expected standard of care does occur in some cases. When such behavior leads to serious patient injury, a medical malpractice suit may be brought.
According to Johns Hopkins University, surgical errors are known as “never events” that occur over 4000 times a year. These never events are considered “events that should never ever happen in surgery”. For instance, an object like a sponge, towel, or surgical tool gets left inside a patient’s body nearly 39 times per week. Surgeons also operate on the wrong body part or perform the wrong procedure 20 times per week respectively.
Like many other people who have experienced a medical catastrophe, you may think you automatically have a medical malpractice lawsuit just because your doctor may have made some error in judgment while treating you. This may or not be the case, however. There is much more that goes into the decision of whether to pursue a medical malpractice case than a patient having a negative treatment outcome.
The key factors will involve demonstrating whether:
- A doctor or other medical professional made a serious mistake, and
- Whether the patient was harmed by that mistake (and to what extent)
In some cases, for example, a physician or hospital may fail to administer the appropriate treatment required to help the patient. In other cases, the patient was simply but wrongfully neglected, resulting in inadequate or inappropriate care that led to the patient’s injury or death. In fact, death is the cited injury in 31 percent of medical malpractice cases.
The key is whether the generally accepted standard of care conditions was met and followed by your treating physician or another medical professional. These are the standards that are to be adhered to by all medical professionals in the medical field to treat or care for similar patients under similar circumstances and are the very standards by which such professionals judge one another. If you can show that the doctor treating you or your loved one did not reasonably follow these standards of care, you may indeed have a solid medical malpractice claim.
Common Injuries from Medical Malpractice
- Misdiagnosed cancer
- Birth Injuries/Cerebral Palsy
- Misread x-rays
- Improperly read lab results
- Emergency room error
- Medication error
- Surgical error
- Anesthesia error
- Wrongful Death
You must clearly show that the medical mistake caused you damage or further harm, however. For example, if you were scheduled to receive an amputation of one limb but the wrong limb was removed, or you sustained brain damage after an operation because you were deprived of vital oxygen during surgery, for example, you clearly have been harmed by medical error. In other words, unless you’ve been harmed by a medical error, you do not have a medical malpractice case.
Negligence is a bit different. This can occur when a doctor by an act of omission fails to provide the necessary treatment a patient needs. Again, such negligence is falling below the accepted standard of practice according to the medical community itself and is unacceptable when this behavior causes injury, harm, or death to the patient.
In such situations, expert witnesses may be needed to explain how the medical practice in your situation led to a harmful medical outcome for you and caused your injury. These experts are medical professionals themselves who understand the seriousness of breaching patient trust when doctors fail to act on the patient’s behalf and therefore do not adhere to the accepted standards of care.
Call Our Riverside Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today
If you or someone you love has been injured by medical malpractice, contact the office of Brent A. Duque. Individuals and families who have suffered personal injury in this way turn to us because they know we are committed to investing the time and resources required to aggressively pursue maximum compensation on their behalf.
We understand the unique challenges those who have sustained injuries at the hands of negligent medical professionals are facing and can offer the help you need. If you or a loved one has sustained such an injury it is vital you have a knowledgeable and competent staff like those at our Riverside Law Office. For a free consultation, contact us today at 1-877-241-9554. Our dedicated staff is friendly and responsive, providing 24-hour availability and a firm-wide commitment to each individual and family we represent.
Our office has successfully handled hundreds of accident cases over the years, including:
