Medical Malpractice

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or another health care professional does not exercise the accepted standard of care within their field of practice, leading to a patient’s injury.

Malpractice can take the form of:

Unfortunately, negligence often occurs in the health care industry. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff may fail to treat a patient with the appropriate care, causing devastating and sometimes permanent injuries.

  • prescription errors
  • surgical errors
  • birth injuries
  • misdiagnoses
  • incorrect prescriptions
  • and other situations

Did You Know? Medication Errors Are Common

Medication errors are among the most common medical mistakes, harming at least 1.5 million people every year and accounting for more than 7,000 deaths annually. More people die each year from medication errors than work-related injuries.

An Institute of Medicine report estimated that medical errors are estimated to result in between 44,000 and 98,000 preventable deaths and over 1 million excess injuries each year in U.S. hospitals. Medical errors affect 1 in 10 patients worldwide. Medical errors kill more people each year than work-related injuries and automobile accidents combined.

The Complexity of Medical Malpractice Cases

Health-care providers are expected to meet not simply an ordinary standard of care, but a standard defined by the actions of a health-care provider in the same specialty treating a similarly situated patient.

When medical negligence occurs, a patient or the patient’s family may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim against any individuals or facilities that were responsible. These lawsuits contain parallel elements to those in other personal injury claims, although the standard of care is more specific.

Proving a medical malpractice case involves consulting medical experts, examining a patient’s history, and deciphering complicated medical records. Our firm has the resources to make sure that those responsible for your harm are held accountable.

You need expert testimony from members of the medical profession to establish the appropriate standard of care and then prove how a defendant deviated from it.

You can see that these claims tend to be complex, so it is critical that you find a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney to protect the victim’s rights.

Did you Know? Two-Year Deadline in Most Cases

The deadline for filing most medical malpractice claims in court in Illinois is 2 years from the date the Plaintiff knew or should have known of the negligence of the professional and that injuries resulted therefrom. There are exceptions to this rule, however.

Choose Ackerman Law for your Medical Malpractice Claim

Jim Ackerman has decades of experience in medical practice cases. No matter how complex you think your case is, talk to Jim for a free consultation.

Types of claims we handle include, but are not limited to:

Find out how Ackerman can get you the help you deserve!
Call 217-789-1977 today.