When you enter a healthcare facility with the intention of receiving treatment or care, your expectation is that you will be treated properly and not subjected to any harm. Nobody undergoes surgery or medical procedures with the expectation that he will sustain an injury. With your health being placed entirely in the hands of the doctors and nurses who are supposed to help you, you should feel safe when getting treated. Unfortunately, this is not always the result. Injuries at hospitals can drastically change your quality and way of life, and you deserve fair compensation in the event that they do. Our experienced Porterville attorneys are here to make sure you collect a fair settlement for your damages. We believe that the responsible hospital should be held accountable for the actions of its doctors and nurses. Our clients often call us with questions about medical malpractice claims and what they can do to move forward. Examples of these questions include:
- Where can I find a medical malpractice lawyer in Porterville?
- I need a Porterville medical malpractice attorney. Who can I call?
- Who is the best surgery malpractice lawyer in Porterville
- Can I sue a doctor for making a Medical error?
Medical Malpractice Information
Medical malpractice is a terrifying occurrence that can result in severe and debilitating injuries to your body. Doctors who commit medical malpractice must be held responsible for their actions. In essence, medical malpractice is the decision to act in a manner that could be considered medical negligence. In order to show that the action was negligent, another doctor or group of doctors will give their input on the occurrence. They will claim that the decision to act as such would not be one that is shared by other doctors in the same or similar situations. This is usually required for cases that have more grey areas; for instance, a wrongful amputation would not be actively done by a competent doctor, and a surgeon who committed such a medical mistake would have little to no defense for his actions.
There are four points of negligence that must be proven in order for you to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. It is highly advised that you seek out the assistance of a Porterville attorney to help you show these four points, as it will be very difficult to do so by yourself.
- There was a doctor/patient relationship. This is important because it establishes that you were being treated by the doctor who harmed you. If you were given advice from a friend who is a doctor or if you overheard statements about what to do for a condition, you would not be considered a patient under that doctor. There must be a mutual exchange of services – for example, you pay money to see a doctor so that he can treat you and receive compensation for doing so. In some instances, the doctor/patient relationship is established by the doctor without the consent of the patient. This implied consent is present in emergency situations wherein the patient is unconscious or in critical condition, such as after a heart attack or a gruesome car accident.
- There was a breach of duty in the treatment. A doctor must have acted in a negligent manner when treating you in order for this point to be fulfilled. For example, he may have refused to sterilize equipment before surgery, which would be considered an act of gross negligence. Overlooking the cleanliness of surgical tools can lead to many problems.
- The breach resulted in injuries. If an injury occurred because of the doctor’s carelessness, you can consider this third point to be true. In keeping with the unsterilized medical tools – there is a chance that the dirty surgical equipment caused an infection in you after the surgery.
- The injuries led to specific physical harm. This point can be confusing to some clients. What this means is that not every injury causes long lasting or particularly damaging effects; if there were no harm from an injury, this point would not be able to be sustained. For example, light scarring left behind from a doctor’s improper stitching of a wound would likely not hold up in court due to the lack of damage the injury caused.
Do not struggle to prove that a doctor was negligent in his duties when he harmed you. Let a Medical negligence attorney in Porterville County help you sue the doctor for damages.
Common Medical Malpractice Injuries
Medical malpractice can occur in many different varieties. There are some instances that are committed by nurses and caretakers; for example, if you are bedridden, you may not be adequately secured in the bed and fall out. In some physical therapy classes, caretakers and therapists ask that you perform certain duties, but if the duty is obviously too strenuous, you may hurt yourself even more. Other common examples of medical malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis or Missed Diagnosis: Arguably the most common form of medical malpractice, a misdiagnosis often occurs because of a lack of information on the condition. Many doctors try to cure as many possible conditions at once, and if nothing works, they move on to another treatment. They also misattribute your sickness to a disease or condition that is not present, and ask that you undergo treatment for something that is not present. For fast acting diseases like cancer, or other conditions that require immediate attention, a misdiagnosis can prove fatal. Sometimes, the actual problem reaches a point where it cannot be cured, let alone alleviated.
- Botched Surgery: Surgeons may sometimes make errors while operating on individuals. These errors can be very minimal, as in the case of a slipped scalpel and additional incision, or they can be as drastic as a wrongful amputation. If there are other issues that arise while you are undergoing surgery, you can sue the surgeon for medical malpractice. A mistake during surgery should not be ignored.
- Wrong Drug or Medication: Similar to a misdiagnosis, administering the wrong drug to a patient can have disastrous consequences. Some individuals are allergic to certain drugs, while others may have their conditions worsened. The most common form of medical malpractice with drugs involves anesthesia. An anesthesiologist who makes many mistakes can inadvertently cause multiple problems in a surgery.
The injuries that can arise out of these instances of malpractice are varied. Many of the injuries are inconsequential and may only require a small amount of recovery time, but others are more egregious. Other examples of injuries include:
- Brain injury
- Paralysis
- Death
- Spinal cord injury
- Wrongful amputation
- Infection
- Nerve damage
- Loss of range of motion
- Cognitive problems
Do not hesitate to contact one of our Porterville County attorneys for medical negligence. You can be well on your way to earning compensation for your damages. We can help you sue the hospital for a settlement.
Possible Compensation
In filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, you may be able to earn different types of compensation. Some of these monetary values include:
- Medical expenses, which can include both past and future bills. Your hospitalization, physical therapy, surgery, and other expenses can be covered.
- Lost wages, from both the past and future, due to missed days of work because of your injuries or time spent recovering.
- Pain and suffering, or damages covering PTSD, fear, mental scarring, psychological damage, emotional pain, and more. Keep in mind that under the law, you can receive a maximum of $250,000 in noneconomic damages.
Reach out to one of our Porterville lawyers with experience in medical malpractice cases for more help.
Normandie’s Promise
Our Med mal lawyers with expertise in malpractice cases at Normandie Law Firm are here to bring you a settlement for your injuries stemming from a doctor’s negligence. We can help you sue the hospital for your damages, and our aggressive lawyers will stop at nothing to win your case. We believe that the hospital should be held wholly accountable for the actions of its doctors, and we will not rest until you are taken care of.
Call us today for a free legal consultation. You can ask any questions you want about the legal process of a medical malpractice lawsuit and we will give you crucial information that you need to know. If you select us to represent you, you are given a zero fee guarantee on your case – meaning you pay no out of pocket expenses for our services. We only get paid if we win, and the money comes from the settlement you will receive from the hospital. This way, your savings are never touched. If we lose, you don’t owe us anything at all.
Our Porterville lawyers serve those who have been injured at hospitals across the region, including Sierra View Medical Center, Porterville Developmental Center, Porterville Convalescent, Kaweah Delta Urgent Care Center, Community Regional Medical Center, Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital, Dameron Hospital, Clovis Community Medical Center, and more.
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