Orland Park Medical Malpractice Lawyers

A medical malpractice victim may be able to recover compensation for all of the damages they experienced due to medical negligence. These damages may include the costs of medical treatment needed to address an injury, the loss of income while a person was recovering, impairment to future income-earning capacity, assistive devices or other expenses related to a disability, and physical and emotional pain and suffering experienced by a person and their family.

While the time needed will vary depending on the complexity of the case, medical malpractice lawsuits often take one to two years to resolve, or potentially even longer. Your attorney will need time to examine your medical records and other information about the case, consult with experts, and gather evidence. After a lawsuit is filed, the discovery process can often take several months. Negotiation of a settlement can also take significant time, and if the case proceeds to trial, multiple years may pass before a verdict is reached.

A medical professional is required to provide a certain standard of care when treating patients. This standard of care is based on the treatment that a reasonable person with a similar level of skill and experience would have provided to a patient in the same situation. If a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional did not meet this standard of care, and a patient suffered harm as a result, this is considered medical negligence, and the patient may be able to recover damages through a medical malpractice claim.

A victim may be able to pursue a medical malpractice claim against a provider who caused an injury through medical negligence. In addition to directly suing a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional, the person’s employer, such as a hospital or doctor’s office, may also be held liable. Other liable parties may include a hospital that did not verify a doctor’s credentials or did not address complaints about the care provided by an employee, as well as a pharmaceutical manufacturer that did not properly advise doctors about the risks involved in using a drug.

A patient may pursue a medical malpractice claim any time they were injured because a medical professional failed to meet the standard of care. Some common forms of medical negligence include misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose conditions such as cancer, surgical errors such as operating on the wrong part of the body, anesthesia errors, medication errors such as failure to consider allergies when prescribing drugs, or failure to take the proper steps to prevent birth injuries to a child or mother.