We are often asked to trust medical professionals blindly, like doctors and nurses. We do so because they are supposed to have the education, experience, skill, and resources to provide us with the best possible care so we can recover from whatever our ailment may be and move forward with our lives. Unfortunately, negligent physicians are responsible for many injuries each year. If you’ve been harmed by a doctor’s poor decision, a Cincinnati medical malpractice lawyer from Bey & Associates, LLC can help.
The Bey & Associates medical malpractice lawyer is trained strategically to fight large corporations in court throughout the United States. With us, you can take legal action and fight back.
Defining Medical Malpractice in Cincinnati
While the concept of medical malpractice is the same in most places, states have the right to establish their definitions and laws. In Ohio, medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other medical professional fails to meet the required standard of care and injures a patient. The standard of care refers to the actions a similar professional would have taken in any situation. Hiring a Cincinnati medical malpractice lawyer must be a priority for you.
According to the American Hospital Directory, the following eight hospitals are located in Cincinnati:
- Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital.
- Bethesda North Hospital.
- Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
- Good Samaritan Hospital.
- Mercy Health – West Hospital.
- The Christ Hospital.
- The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health.
- University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
If you are treated in one of those facilities and are injured, a medical malpractice lawyer can look into your situation and determine if you were wronged. If you file a claim, you must understand the state laws that could apply to your problem.
One of the most important laws is the statute of limitations. In Ohio, you have one year from the date of injury to pursue a claim. If the deadline passes and you try to file, your case will likely be dismissed and ineligible for compensation.
Understanding the damage caps for medical malpractice claims filed in Ohio is essential. While a plaintiff can recover economic damages, including losses like missed wages and medical bills, non-economic damages are capped. When a plaintiff tries to recover for pain and suffering, the award can’t exceed more than $250,000 or three times the plaintiff’s economic damages. There is an overall maximum of $350,000 per plaintiff or $500,000 for each case if there is more than one plaintiff.
Types of Medical Malpractice Claims We Handle
Clients come to us with a variety of medical malpractice claims. Some of the most common include the following:
- Misdiagnosis. When a doctor is inexperienced or fails to listen to everything a patient tells them, they risk misdiagnosing a patient with the wrong condition. If, for example, a person goes to the emergency room with signs of a heart attack but is diagnosed with indigestion and sent home, the diagnosing doctor can be held accountable if the patient later has a heart attack and suffers more trauma than they would have if they had been appropriately diagnosed.
- Birth Injuries. The majority of births proceed as planned or only result in minor complications. When unexpected problems arise, and a doctor isn’t prepared, they could make a mistake that harms the baby or mother. Common birth injuries include oxygen deprivation, contusions, and hemorrhaging.
- Improper Medication Administration. A system in place ensures medications are adequately administered to patients. In most situations, the doctor sends an order to the pharmacist, they fill the script, and, in a hospital setting, a nurse administers the medication. If a mistake is made during any part of the process, the patient could suffer a reaction to the medicine.
- Surgical Errors. Common surgical errors include wrong-site surgery, leaving a medical instrument inside a patient’s body, and performing the wrong surgery altogether. Miscommunication is often the cause of a surgical mistake.
- Anesthesia Errors and Brain Damage. When a medication procedure requires general sedation, the anesthesiologist involved needs to carefully administer the drugs and monitor the patient during the procedure. If they make a miscalculation or fail to monitor the patient properly, they could suffer brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
Contact our medical malpractice lawyer if you were injured in a different situation but still believe negligence played a role. They can evaluate your claim and help decide if filing a personal injury claim is your option.
Reasons Why Doctors and Hospitals Make Mistakes
A single hospital patient could contact many medical providers while being treated. The doctor treating them could work with a physician’s assistant. There will likely be different nurses for the night and day shifts, and the patient may need to see specialists or physical therapists. When a patient is injured, it’s imperative to determine which party made the mistake and what that mistake was.
Several medical errors are made because of communication issues. If a patient’s care team fails to update charts as the patient’s condition and treatments change, the team won’t be on the same page regarding what’s to come and what to expect.
Communication problems can also affect the procedures a person undergoes. In the event the identity isn’t verified every step of the way before surgery, the patient could receive surgery on the wrong side of their body or have a healthy organ removed.
It’s no secret that the medical field is stressful. As a result, doctors and nurses are often overworked. This can result in burnout and fatigue. If a medical professional practices while fatigued, they are at an increased risk of making a mistake. The same goes in the event they try to cope with the stress with drugs or alcohol.
When Bey & Associates, LLC investigates your claim, we’ll consult with experts to determine what mistake the negligent party made and how it directly contributed to your injuries and losses.
Determining Fault for Medical-Related Injuries
Medical malpractice claims are among the most complex concerning the numerous areas of personal injury law. Because of that, it’s imperative to be backed by a firm legal representative who knows how to build a case that results in you receiving compensation.
Some elements must be proven when medical malpractice cases are built on negligence. Those elements include a duty of care, breach, causation, and damages. Establishing that a doctor owed you a duty of care is as simple as proving with your medical records that they agreed to treat you. They usually prove how they breached that duty by consulting a medical expert’s opinion on what should have happened.
The breach will need to be connected to the injuries directly. So, if you suffered an infection after surgery, your lawyer can make the connection between your disease and the sponge that was left inside your body. Finally, your medical malpractice lawyer can calculate the damages you’ve suffered based on your injuries to seek the compensation you need to recover.
Maximize Your Recovery With Our Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Recovering from a doctor’s mistake can be challenging, especially if facing significant changes in your everyday life. You may feel like filing a claim is a battle you’re unwilling to take on with all the other challenges you face, but that’s why we’re here. When you work with a Cincinnati medical malpractice lawyer from Bey & Associates, LLC, they’ll manage your legal affairs, keep you up-to-date with what’s happening and your options, and fight for total and fair compensation.
We strive to make the personal injury litigation process as easy and pain-free as possible for our clients. We understand that you’re struggling, and we want to ensure you have the space, time, and money you need to recover as fully as possible—physically and emotionally.
If you’re ready to take action against the negligent medical provider who injured you, contact us to schedule a case evaluation. We’ll discuss the validity of your claim, review your legal rights and options, and help you decide how best to proceed to secure your financial future. Contact our medical malpractice lawyer today to learn more.
