If you suspect that you are suffering from an injury or ailment due to medical malpractice, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible. With early contact, your Columbus medical malpractice lawyer can start building a case while you seek medical care.
Medical malpractice is a form of personal injury or tort law, and most personal injury attorneys offer free case consultations. During your consultation, your attorney can listen to your story and advise you on your next steps.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Johns Hopkins Medicine published a very famous study that stated medical error was the third leading cause of death in the U.S., but what exactly is medical malpractice. Very simply, when a doctor, nurse, or any healthcare worker deviates from acceptable medical standards and causes the patient harm, that is medical malpractice. To prove medical malpractice, your lawyer must show the following:
- Professional relationship: The patient seeks the service of the medical professional in addressing a healthcare issue. The patient expects the healthcare provider to provide a safe environment and a safe remedy to their ailment.
- Deviate from standard care: Whether through action or inaction, the healthcare provider does not provide what other equally trained professionals of the medical community would provide in the same situation.
- Injury or death occurs: The patient suffers further harm since the healthcare provider failed to provide a standard of care. This harm could be a new ailment, aggravation of the original ailment, or, in extreme cases, death.
- Additional hardships: The patient is now dealing with their new condition, or the family is dealing with the loss of a loved one. This hardship could cause physical pain, financial loss, and emotional suffering.
Most Common Medical Malpractice Cases
There’s a wide range of ways medical malpractice can occur. The following are the most common types of medical malpractice if you suspect you are suffering from medical malpractice:
Diagnostic Errors
A healthcare provider could misdiagnose a condition and provide the wrong treatment. The healthcare provider could fail to diagnose a condition or illness in a missed diagnosis. The patient could also suffer from a delayed diagnosis.
Improperly Treating an Ailment
Improper treatments could stem from diagnostic errors to clerical mistakes. Examples include surgical errors and amputations of the wrong body parts.
Errors in Medication
Medication errors deal with prescribing the wrong medication, administering the wrong dosage, or taking medications that have an adverse effect when taken in combination.
Defective Medical Devices
Any device used in the treatment of a medical condition that causes the patient harm could be a part of a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Infections
Infection can be a serious medical complication. They can affect how the body heals and be difficult to treat. A common example is bed sores. A bedridden patient who is not regularly cared for could develop bed sores.
Birth Injuries
A child’s birth is a joyous occasion for a parent, but errors in the pregnancy and birthing can result in tragedy. Children may be born with hypoxia, fractures, and nerve injuries such as Erb’s palsy. In the most tragic of circumstances, the baby may die during childbirth due to medical errors.
Errors Administering Anesthesia
Most surgeries require some form of anesthesia, and failure to administer the drugs correctly or to maintain the patient’s condition through the surgery could result in catastrophic consequences.
Finding a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Columbus
If you are reading this article, then you’re already using one of the best tools available for finding a lawyer for your medical malpractice case. You shouldn’t limit your search to checking online, though. Here are a couple of other options and sources you could explore when searching for a lawyer to contact about your medical malpractice claim.
Recommendations from Friends and Family
You may know someone who has been through a personal injury claim in the past. Whether it was a friend or a family member, they may know of a lawyer who could help. Ask them about the experience and if they would use the attorney again. Did they feel satisfied with the resolution?
Check the Ohio Bar
In addition to a general online search, you could also search the Ohio Bar online. It could recommend lawyers in your area and those who handle medical malpractice.
Meet With the Attorney
Eventually, you should sit down and talk with a medical malpractice attorney. You could pick a couple of attorneys to speak with and see which one would be the right fit for your needs. You can ask questions, hear how they might handle your case, and learn about their past results so that you can make an informed decision on your choice of legal representation.
Call for a Free Consultation on Your Medical Malpractice Case
If you are suffering from an injury and suspect the cause to be medical malpractice, our medical malpractice lawyer in Columbus can help you. Our attorney can listen to your story and advise you on your case. We can determine who may be liable, assess the damages you may claim, and represent you during negotiations. If we cannot reach a fair settlement with the insurance company, we can take your case to court.
Contact the Fitch Law Firm LLC for a free case consultation today.