According to the Journal of Patient Safety, 210,000 to 440,000 people needlessly die each year from medical negligence. That makes medical errors the third leading cause of death in our country.
Medical malpractice is negligence caused by the acts or omissions of a healthcare provider, like doctors, nurses, and hospital staff. When doctors, nurses, and hospitals make mistakes, the results can be catastrophic. The Plainfield medical malpractice lawyers at Wade Law, P.C. will fight to hold healthcare providers responsible for their negligence.
What Are Some Examples of Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when these standards are broken and you receive an injury because of that breach. Common medical malpractice examples include:
- Failure to diagnose stroke, or heart and vascular conditions such as congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease
- Failure to treat infection or sepsis
- Delay in diagnosis and treatment
- Surgical errors such as surgery performed on the wrong body part, surgery performed on the wrong patient, the wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient, iatrogenic injury, and intraoperative or postoperative death in a normal, healthy patient.
- Falls during transfer, falls from improper use of bed rails, and entrapment and suffocation through the improper use of bedrails.
- Botched cosmetic surgeries
- Anesthesiology errors
- Emergency room errors
- Unnecessary procedures
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Defective or contaminated drugs
- Prescription medication and IV-infusion errors in the selection, dosing, and monitoring of medication, including overdose and underdose, leading to death, heart failure or heart attack, stroke, renal failure, kidney damage, vestibular damage, oscillopsia, or ototoxicity
- Failure to properly sterilize equipment leading to infection or fear of infection
- Foreign objects or medical equipment such as a scalpel, sponge, gauze, or needle left in the body leading to post-surgery infection or other bodily injury.
- Failure to intubate or establish a clear airway leading to an anoxic brain injury
- Birth injuries such as placental abruption, brachial plexus palsy from shoulder dystocia, traumatic birth injury (such as head trauma from forceps and vacuum extractors), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) caused by birth asphyxia, cerebral palsy, periventricular leukomalacia, and facial nerve palsy or paralysis.
For a free legal consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer serving Plainfield, call (815) WADE-LAW
Possible Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases
Indiana limits all cases of medical malpractice filed after July 30, 2019, to $1.8 million. Indiana has a Patient’s Compensation Fund that pays a large portion of high-value settlements and judgments, and the state sets this cap to avoid depleting the fund.
Below this cap, any cost related to your injury, including intangible ones, could be compensated through a lawsuit against your medical practitioner. This includes current and future medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and many others.
When you hire our medical malpractice attorneys in Plainfield, IN, after your consultation, our first priority is to gather all the evidence we need to prove your case, including the costs now and in the future you may not know about.
Plainfield Medical Malpractice Lawyer Near Me 765-563-9233
Proving Medical Malpractice
There are four things we have to prove to win a medical malpractice lawsuit:
- The people or institution we sue must have a duty of care toward you. That is, we must prove you were a patient.
- Whoever we sue must have violated that duty of care by breaching the standard of care set by professionals in their field of practice.
- That violation must lead to your harm.
- That harm must be proved.
Some of the evidence we use includes medical records, bills and pay stubs, testimony from expert witnesses, and more. It all depends on the details of your case. Malpractice is a very fact-oriented area of personal injury law, so our medical malpractice attorneys in Plainfield will take careful note of everything that happened.
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How Common Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical professionals have a duty to provide a standard level of care to all they treat. Yet, medical malpractice is alarmingly common. The top three most common errors involved the following:
- Foreign objects remaining the body after surgery;
- Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers occurring after a patient was admitted to the hospital;
- Surgery performed on the wrong body part.
At Wade Law we recommend you research all medical providers that you see. If you have been a victim of medical malpractice, contact a Plainfield medical malpractice lawyer for help investigating your case.
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What Is the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice in Indiana?
Less time than you think. Code 34-11-2-3 of Indiana law states that medical malpractice lawsuits must be brought within two years of when the error happened, not when you noticed the injury. The major exception is children under the age of six, which have until their 8th birthday to sue.
However, some exceptions could push the start date forward in time so that you can still sue. It depends on certain factors. Your medical malpractice lawyer in Plainfield can tell you whether you’re within the time limit and stop the clock while they work on your case.
Wade Law Is Ready to Help
If you live in Plainfield, Indiana, and you need medical malpractice representation, Wade Law is ready to help you. We have experienced lawyers in this field of personal injury. We know how hard these cases can be to prove, but we will make every effort to get you compensation.
To get started, schedule a consultation with us by phone or by our online contact form. Our Plainfield medical malpractice attorneys look forward to getting you the care and compensation you deserve after your medical injury.
Call or text (815) WADE-LAW or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
