Patients Have a Right to Safe Medical Treatment
When you seek treatment in a hospital, you have every right to assume that your safety will be the primary focus of every person who attends to your medical needs. Unfortunately, doctors and medical staff can take action or fail to act in ways that result in serious harm to patients. Surgery mishaps, missed diagnosis, prescription mistakes, and other medical mistakes have devastating consequences. Between the physical and emotional costs of illness and the financial costs of medical care, patients and their families can be left feeling like there is nowhere to turn.
Rhoads & Rhoads has been protecting the rights of the injured throughout Western Kentucky for over 45 years. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of medical malpractice, our team of experienced trial attorneys and knowledgeable support staff are available to help you through this difficult time and get you the financial recovery you deserve.
Common Types of Medical Negligence
Any injury that meets the four requirements for proving medical negligence is worth pursuing through a malpractice claim. That said, there are errors that occur more commonly than others, including:
- Surgical errors, such as wrong-site, wrong-procedure, or wrong-patient surgeries;
- Retained surgical instruments (surgical tools, such as sponges, left in the body after surgery);
- Anesthesia errors;
- Use of unclean instruments or tools, which can cause infection;
- Childbirth injuries (either to mother or baby);
- Medication errors;
- Misdiagnosis;
- Delayed diagnosis;
- Failure to diagnose.
How is Negligence Determined in Medical Malpractice Cases?
There are four requirements that must be met in order to prove medical negligence:
- There was an established duty to the patient. This means there must be a doctor-patient (or medical professional-patient) relationship present. Once that relationship exists, the medical professional has a duty to treat the patient as would a similar doctor or medical professional in similar circumstances.
- The person with an established duty to the patient then breached that duty. If you were injured because a doctor failed to provide appropriate care, including the provision of information about the risks of treatment, medical negligence may have occurred. If your body reacts badly to standard care, that may not necessarily be the fault of the healthcare provider; however, we always recommend allowing an experienced medical malpractice attorney to review the facts and evidence before accepting the explanation that your injuries are due to a bad reaction as opposed to negligence.
- The breach of duty caused direct injury. There must be proof the specific breach of duty caused the injury directly. This can be difficult to prove, as there are often many factors at play during medical treatment.
- The injury received must significantly impact the quality of the patient’s life. The injury must have an impact on the patient that is substantial enough to warrant financial damages. Many victims of medical malpractice are left with additional medical bills and need for further surgery or treatment. Others find themselves with lifelong disabilities or a need for extensive care. In the worst cases, a patient can lose his or her life due to medical negligence.
Medical malpractice cases are complicated, especially because the doctor, medical professional, or hospital has so much more information than the patient in most situations. This creates a power imbalance that can allow injustice to occur. Patients who have been victimized are often physically, emotionally, and financially drained and may not have the energy or resources to aggressively pursue the information they need for a successful medical malpractice claim. The attorneys at Rhoads & Rhoads understand this and will fight to ensure you are properly compensated for the egregious wrongs done to you.
Owensboro and Madisonville Medical Malpractice Lawyers — No Recovery, No Fee
With offices in Owensboro and Madisonville, Rhoads & Rhoads represents medical malpractice victims throughout Western Kentucky. We offer free initial consultations, and all cases are taken on a contingency fee basis, which mean there is no payment required up front. We get paid only if we win or settle your case, so there is NO RISK involved.
Call us at 888-709-9329 or contact us by e-mail to schedule an appointment with one of our Madisonville or Owensboro personal injury attorneys.