If you are the victim of medical malpractice, you may be able to pursue a claim to recover compensation. However, this means you must understand what types of situations qualify as medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice typically occurs when the care that your healthcare providers offer falls below the professional standard of care. If no reasonable provider with similar training, and under similar circumstances, would have provided the care that your doctor did, then they may be liable for the harm their substandard care caused.
Gill Ports Hoste LLC can help you to evaluate whether you have a malpractice claim and, if so, can help you to build a strong case to prove your doctor harmed you and should be held liable for your losses.
Give us a call today to schedule a free consultation with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer, or read on to learn what qualifies as medical malpractice.
Four required elements of medical malpractice
Not every mistake a healthcare provider makes qualifies as medical malpractice. However, both acts and omissions can qualify as malpractice if four key elements are met:
- The provider owed a duty to you: This means a doctor-patient relationship existed, giving rise to a duty to provide a professional level of care.
- The duty was breached: A provider breaches a duty if the level of care they offered fell below the care that a reasonable professional with similar training would have offered under the circumstances.
- The breach resulted in harm: You must have been harmed by the doctor’s failure to live up to the standard of care. This could mean your condition progressed, you lost treatment opportunities, you received unnecessary treatment, or something else the doctor did caused your physical condition to worsen in some way.
- You suffered losses because of that harm that you can be compensated for: This can include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress
If you can prove these four things, you likely have a malpractice claim.
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Common examples of medical malpractice
Many different kinds of medical mistakes could constitute malpractice. Common examples include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Surgical errors including operating on the wrong patient, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving an instrument inside the patient
- Medication mistakes like administering the wrong medication, delivering the wrong dose of a drug, administering a drug in the wrong form, or prescribing a drug without regard to dangerous drug interactions.
- Mistakes during labor and delivery such as not monitoring the fetus for signs of distress, letting labor continue for too long, or improper use of the forceps or vacuum extractor
- Not ordering the correct tests
- Failing to communicate about abnormal test results
- Not properly washing hands or sterilizing tools and causing infection
- Botching a procedure
- Failing to obtain informed consent
In these and other situations, you must get an Affidavit of Merit under 735 ILCS 5/2-622 to move your claim forward. This means a qualified medical professional will need to attest to the fact that it is reasonable for you to file your case given that the evidence suggests you may have legal grounds for a malpractice claim.
Contact a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer today
Finding the right Chicago medical malpractice lawyer is essential to getting justice. At Gill Ports Hoste LLC, we offer free case evaluations so you can determine if you have a malpractice claim. We’ll help you identify defendants, connect with medical experts, obtain your medical records, and provide proof your provider failed you.
To find out more about the assistance we can offer, give us a call or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation.