We are often asked to blindly trust medical professionals 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 because of a doctor’s poor decision, a Cincinnati medical malpractice lawyer from Bey & Associates, LLC can help.
Defining Medical Malpractice in Cincinnati
While the concept of medical malpractice is the same in most places, states have the right to establish their own 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 given situation.
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
In the event 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’ll need to have an understanding of the state laws that could apply to your situation
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. In the event the deadline passes and you try to file, your case will likely be dismissed and you’ll be ineligible for compensation.
It’s also important to understand the damage caps for med mal claims filed in Ohio. While a plaintiff is eligible to recover economic damages, which include 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 a maximum overall total 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 use 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 misdiagnosis a patient with the wrong condition. If, for example, a person goes to the emergency room with signs of a heart attack but it 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 diagnosed properly.
- 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. There is a system in place that ensures medications are administered properly 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 including wrong-site surgery, leaving a medical instrument inside a patient’s body, and performing the wrong surgery altogether. Often, miscommunication is the cause of a surgical mistake.
- Anesthesia Errors and Brain Damage. When a medication procedure required general sedation, the anesthesiologist involved needs to carefully administer the drugs and monitor the patient during their procedure. If they make a miscalculation or fail to properly monitor the patient, they could suffer brain damage from a lack of oxygen.
If you were injured in a different situation but still believe negligence played a role, reach out to our medical malpractice attorneys. They can evaluate your claim and help decide if filing a personal injury claim is an option for you.
Reasons Why Doctors and Hospital Make Mistakes
A single hospital patient could come into contact with many different medical providers while they’re being treated. The doctor treating them could work with a physician’s assistant, there are likely to be different nurses for night and day shift, 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 mistakes and just what that mistake was.
A number of medical errors are made because of issues with communication. 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 when it comes to the numerous areas of personal injury law. Because of that, it’s imperative to be backed by a strong legal representative who knows how to build a case that results in you receiving compensation.
When med mal cases are built on the concept of negligence, a number of elements need to be proven. 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. Proving how they breached that duty is usually down by consulting a medical excerpt’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 infection and the sponge that was left inside your body. Finally, your lawyer can calculate the damages you’ve suffered based on your injuries to seek the compensation you need to recover.
Maximize Your Recovery With Bey & Associates, LLC
Recovering from a doctor’s mistake can be challenging, especially if you’re facing significant changes to your everyday life. You may feel like filing a claim is a battle you’re not willing to take on with all the other challenges you’re facing, 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 what your options are, and fight on your behalf for full 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 us today to learn more.
