If you or a loved one recently required surgery to treat a medical condition and something went wrong, you are probably looking for answers. You may question if the problem you or your loved one encountered during surgery was the fault of a medical professional’s negligence or the result of a surgical mistake. You may also wonder what your legal options are if you were the victim of medical malpractice. Surgical errors are rare, but when they occur, the results can be life-changing.

Surgical Mistakes Can Lead to Preventable Patient Suffering

Surgeons and other medical professionals are human and they sometimes make mistakes. However, when a mistake is egregious or the result of the medical professional’s negligent behavior, the professional may be guilty of medical malpractice. Examples of surgical errors that may justify a medical malpractice claim include:

• Improper sanitation of equipment or devices that leads to patient infection
• Surgical mistakes resulting in nerve damage or internal organ damage
• Use of contaminated or defective equipment
• Administering the wrong type of medication or the wrong dose of medication during surgery
• Using a surgical technique that is unnecessarily risky
• Performing unneeded surgery

Some surgical errors are so unacceptable that they are called “never events” because they should never happen. Never events include:

Emergency rooms are often chaotic, high-stress environments. ER doctors, nurses, and other staff deal with time-sensitive medical crises all day. They handle everything from broken bones caused by car accidents to heart attacks and strokes. If you or a loved one received substandard treatment in an emergency room or were the victim of an ER mistake, you may wonder whether the emergency room staff’s conduct constituted medical malpractice. There are many factors involved in emergency room medical malpractice claims, so it is best to discuss your concerns with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

ER Doctors and Medical Staff Have a Legal Duty to Provide Competent Care

When a person visits the emergency room, a positive outcome is not guaranteed. Sometimes, saving a patient from injury or death is not possible. However, there are some cases in which an ER patient is harmed because a doctor or other staff makes an unacceptable mistake. ER medical malpractice occurs when the following elements are present:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed. To have a valid medical malpractice claim, you must be an actual patient in the ER. For example, you cannot sue an ER nurse for inadequate treatment that he or she provided during a social gathering.
• You received negligent care. A doctor or other medical professional acts negligently when he or she provides care that fails to meet the accepted “standard of care.” This standard of care refers to the degree of skill and competency that an average medical professional in the same position would have provided in similar circumstances. Testimony from expert witnesses is often used to establish whether or not a medical professional’s care violated the standard of care during a medical malpractice claim.
• You suffered harm because of the negligent care. Proving that an ER doctor or nurse provided substandard care is not enough to satisfy the criteria for medical malpractice. You must also show that you suffered harm or “damages” because of the negligent care. Damages in an ER medical malpractice claim may include additional medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages from missed work, reduced income-earning capacity, and other losses.

Contact a Waukegan ER Negligence Lawyer

If you suspect that you or a loved one were the victims of emergency room malpractice, contact a Lake County medical malpractice attorney from Salvi & Maher, L.L.C. Our team will investigate your case and help you determine if medical malpractice has occurred. If you were the victim of ER malpractice, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Call our office today at 847-662-3303 and schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.

Injuries to the brain can be some of the most life-changing types of injuries. If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), you may be suffering from a range of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. Your injury may have prevented you from working or living your life as you normally would have. You may also be left with massive medical debt and other expenses because of your injury. Through a personal injury claim, you may be able to recover compensation for the costs incurred by your TBI. The amount and types of compensation you may be entitled to will depend on the severity of your injury, your prognosis, and other circumstances.

Past, Present, and Future Medical Expenses

Unlike other injuries, injuries to the brain are not outwardly visible. In order for doctors to diagnose your TBI, you may have needed to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, computerized tomography (CT) scan, cognitive and neuropsychological tests, or other testing. You may have also needed extensive hospitalization, treatment from medical specialists, rehabilitative care, and other medical treatments. Through a personal injury claim, you may be compensated for your past, present, and expected future medical costs. This may include costs associated with long-term care, home health care, and any medical devices you require.

Lost Wages From Missed Work

A traumatic brain injury can cause vision problems, sleeping difficulties, headaches, nausea, reduced concentration, memory lapses, depression, anxiety, and a host of other problems. These symptoms can be debilitating. You may have been off work for days, weeks, or months after your TBI. You may have even suffered permanent injuries that will prevent you from returning to work at all. Compensation for your lost wages from missed work as well as future lost wages and your reduced income-earning capacity may be available in an injury claim.

Being involved in a car accident is a distressing experience regardless of the circumstances. However, hit and run accidents are often especially traumatic. Illinois law requires motorists to stop and exchange contact and car insurance information whenever they are in an accident causing property damage or personal injury. Unfortunately, some drivers attempt to evade responsibility for an accident by speeding away from the accident scene. If you or a loved one were hurt in a hit and run accident, a personal injury lawyer can help you understand your legal rights and pursue the compensation you need to cover accident-related costs.

Can I File a Claim Even if the At-Fault Driver Cannot Be Located?

In the moments after a traumatic car accident, most people are in a state of shock. They may be disoriented or even knocked unconscious by the force of the impact. Taking note of the at-fault driver’s vehicle or license plate number may simply not be possible. Without this information, it can be difficult for law enforcement to catch the driver and for you to recover compensation through the driver’s insurance company. Footage from dash cameras or nearby security cameras and other types of evidence may help to locate a hit and run driver, but there are many cases in which hit and run drivers are never brought to justice. Fortunately, you may still be able to recover compensation after a hit and run accident even if the driver cannot be located.

Bringing a Claim Against Your Own Insurance Company

The at-fault driver’s car insurance company is typically on the hook for costs resulting from a car accident. In a hit and run accident, obtaining compensation from the at-fault party’s insurer may not be possible. However, you may be able to recover financial compensation through your own insurance company. If you have liability insurance in Illinois, you also have uninsured motorist coverage. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is intended to cover costs caused by someone without insurance or someone who has too little insurance. Unfortunately, insurance companies often offer settlements that do not fully compensate injured victims for their damages. A personal injury attorney can help you negotiate with the insurance company and seek compensation for your past and future medical bills, lost income, property damage, and more.

If you are like most people, you probably deal with tiredness and fatigue from time to time. Studies show that most of us do not get as much sleep as we need. When a driver feels too sleepy to drive safely or starts to nod off at the wheel, he or she should pull off of the road and rest. Sleep deprivation can cause reduced concentration, shortened reaction time, cognitive lapses, and inattention to the road. If you or a loved one were involved in a car accident caused by someone who was sleepy or even asleep at the wheel, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your damages.

Sleep Deprivation’s Effect on the Brain

You may be surprised to learn that many experts consider drowsy driving to be just as dangerous as drunk driving. This is because the effects of sleep deprivation can be similar to the effects of alcohol. Being sleepy makes us slower to respond and less capable of sound decision-making. Sleep deprivation can mean the difference between avoiding a collision and being involved in a serious auto accident.

Drowsy Driving Crash Statistics

In one recent study, researchers found a profound connection between sleep deprivation and auto accidents. Adults are supposed to get 7-9 hours of rest on average. According to the study, individuals who slept only 5-6 hours the night before were twice as likely to be involved in an accident. Sleeping just 4-5 hours quadruples your chances of being in an accident. If a driver has slept less than 4 hours in a 24 hour period, he or she is a staggering 12 times more likely to be in a crash.