Medical Malpractice Lawyers

When we receive medical care, we trust that our physicians, nurses, and healthcare providers have our best interests in mind. However, medical professionals are not immune to making careless mistakes or failing to provide every patient with their full attention. In fact, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. 

If you or a loved one were harmed by a medical professional’s error or insufficient care, you may be entitled to compensation. The medical malpractice lawyers at Whitfield Coleman Montoya can review your case for free to see if you may qualify to file a lawsuit. Contact us today—you’ll only pay for our services if we recover compensation for you.

What is Medical Malpractice?

If a medical professional fails to provide reasonable and adequate care and harms a patient through a negligent act or omission, it may be considered malpractice.

The “4 D’s” help determine whether or not negligence or malpractice occurred. These are as follows:

• Duty: The medical or healthcare provider had a duty of care for the patient. This essentially means that they agreed to treat the patient and there was an established relationship between the patient and the medical provider.
• Dereliction: The medical professional neglected this duty through an act of negligence or failure to provide standard care. This can include misdiagnosing a patient when most other medical professionals would have not done so or failing to order certain tests when a patient reports alarming symptoms.
• Damages: The patient was injured or became ill as a result of the healthcare provider’s dereliction of duty and suffered damages as a result. Damages may include medical expenses, lost wages while they were unable to work, or pain and suffering.
• Direct cause: The act of negligence or failure to act and provide reasonable care directly caused the patient harm. The patient must be able to show that it was their doctor’s negligence that caused their injury or illness, and not some other factor.

The difference between medical malpractice and medical negligence is intent. In cases of medical malpractice, the healthcare professional knew that what they were doing or not doing had a level of risk for the patient. In cases of medical negligence, there is no intent. Instead, a doctor or nurse may have made a mistake unknowingly—like leaving behind gauze in a patient during surgery—which resulted in harm. 

Examples of Medical Malpractice 

Below are a few examples of the different types of medical malpractice and medical negligence. 

Misdiagnosis

If a patient is misdiagnosed, it can have severe consequences. Not only are they not being treated for the condition that they do have, but the medications or procedures that are wrongly prescribed to them may present dangerous health complications.

Failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis

For many conditions, the success of treatment relies heavily on how early a patient is diagnosed and how soon treatment is started. A healthcare provider may be considered negligent if they fail to order diagnostic tests in a reasonable time frame after a patient reports symptoms. 

Surgical error

Every care should be taken when a patient undergoes surgery to ensure the surgical team understands exactly what needs to be performed. If the wrong part of the body is treated or in some cases removed, it can have permanent consequences. Another risk to patients is long surgeries which may put the patient’s  body under additional stress and result in complications.

Foreign objects left in the body

If a surgeon leaves behind gauze, wires, surgical instruments, needles, or any other material or tool that was not meant to be implanted, the patient may suffer from severe pain, infections, inflammation, and similar complications. It’s estimated that 1,500 surgeries in the U.S. alone result in foreign objects left in the body.

Anesthesiology Mistakes

Dosage is particularly important when a patient receives anesthetics. Too much can result in severe complications, including death, while too little can cause a patient to wake up mid-surgery.

Medication errors

When prescribing medication, doctors must consider the medical history of a patient as well as the other medications that they are taking. In some cases, a patient may be prescribed a drug that exacerbates another health condition or causes harmful side effects when combined with another medication. Patients, particularly children, may also receive incorrect dosages of their medication for their body weight.

Birth injuries

Delayed c-sections, failure to test for complications like RH incompatibility, and the improper use of forceps and vacuums are just a few examples of medical malpractice that can result in injuries to the infant and/or mother. 

Who Can File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

Anyone who was injured or suffered an illness as a result of a medical professional or healthcare provider’s negligence may be eligible to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Family members of patients who lost their lives due to medical malpractice may qualify for a wrongful death lawsuit. 

If you are unsure whether or not you were the victim of medical malpractice, contact Whitfield Coleman Montoya for a free legal consultation. Our team will review the details of your case for free and recommend the next best steps.

Medical Malpractice Compensation 

A medical malpractice lawsuit may result in the following types of compensation:

• Pain and suffering: Injuries and illnesses can disrupt your life, causing chronic pain that prevents you from engaging in activities you once enjoyed.
• Medical expenses: A lawsuit may result in compensation for your past and future medical treatment costs. 
• Loss of wages: If you are unable to work due to your injury, you may be compensated for past and future lost wages.
• Loss of earning potential: Some medical conditions require workers to find less physically tasking forms of employment which may result in a smaller salary. In the most severe cases, a victim of medical malpractice may become permanently disabled and unable to work indefinitely.
• Loss of support: If you lost a loved one due to medical negligence, you may receive compensation to cover the financial and emotional support your loved one may have provided had they not passed away.
• Funeral expenses: Families who tragically lost their loved ones due to a healthcare provider’s mistake may obtain compensation to cover costs associated with their funeral and burial.

What to Expect When Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit 

When you work with the medical malpractice lawyers at Whitfield Coleman Montoya, they will help you navigate each step in your pursuit for compensation and justice. 

Here’s what to expect:

• Initial consultation: We will review the details of your medical treatment and resulting injuries to help determine whether or not you may be eligible to file a lawsuit.
• Investigation: Our medical malpractice attorneys will investigate every detail of your case to help determine how you were injured, who may have been at fault, and why you deserve compensation. We’ll gather evidence to support your claim, which may include reviewing your medical records, obtaining witness statements, interviewing medical experts, accessing hospital records, and more. 
• Filing a lawsuit: Our law firm will file a lawsuit against the insurance company of the healthcare provider whose negligence caused your injury.
• Negotiation: Whitfield Coleman Montoya will handle all correspondence with the insurance companies, and will fight to ensure you receive fair compensation for the harm you suffered. If they refuse to offer a reasonable settlement, we are prepared to take your case to trial and fight for a jury verdict on your behalf.

Why Hire Whitfield Coleman Montoya? 

Whitfield Coleman Montoya is the sister law firm of Milberg: a 50-year-old global consumer protection law firm. As such, we have access to an unprecedented amount of resources, allowing us to tackle complex medical malpractice cases on behalf of injured citizens. 

Our medical malpractice lawyers fight tirelessly for our clients because we care; we care because medical providers should never violate the trust that their patients place in them. To date, our personal injury law firm has recovered more than $1 billion in damages for our clients.

To learn more about how Whitfield Coleman Montoya can help you, you can contact our team at any time: We’re available 24/7.