Medical Malpractice Lawyer Serving Detroit | Wayne County
When you rely on medical professionals for help, you expect expert care, but that’s not always what you may receive. Medical errors lead to a significant number of injuries each year, and one study suggests that they are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.
If you’ve suffered injuries because of a medical error, you could be entitled to compensation. Contact a medical malpractice attorney in Detroit to get the representation you need to file a claim.
Detroit Medical Malpractice: What It Is and How It Occurs
Medical malpractice refers to a medical professional offering care that doesn’t meet standards. Acts and omissions can both be medical malpractice. If a physician doesn’t act as another reasonably competent medical professional would, they can be held liable. Any medical professional can commit malpractice.
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosis is a common type of medical malpractice. If a doctor diagnoses you with the wrong condition, you can end up receiving the wrong care. A misdiagnosis in Detroit could lead to serious consequences, like worsening health issues and, potentially, death.
Delayed Diagnosis
Delayed diagnoses are another concern. Everyone who seeks medical care deserves to get an accurate diagnosis in a timely manner. For time-sensitive issues, like heart attacks, strokes, and even cancers, your life can depend on a quick and accurate diagnosis.
Incorrect Treatment
Once a provider diagnoses a condition, they must offer the right treatment to help the problem. If your doctor provided a treatment that no other reasonably competent physician would have chosen, then you could file a Detroit malpractice lawsuit.
For example, if your doctor recommends vitamins instead of chemotherapy for cancer, you have a claim.
Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
To be able to perform any kind of procedure or offer any kind of treatment, a physician has to inform you of the risks and get your consent. If they fail to tell you about alternatives or to provide all of the information you need to make a decision, you could file a medical malpractice claim.
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors in Detroit involve a surgeon making an avoidable mistake during a procedure. These can include:
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Operating on the wrong patient
- Leaving surgical instruments inside the body
- Removing healthy organs or other body parts
All surgical procedures carry some risk, but these kinds of errors can result in life-altering consequences for the patient. A Detroit medical injury lawyer can help.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can transform what should be a happy event into a nightmare. During long and complex births, babies and mothers can suffer all manner of injuries, including serious conditions like cerebral palsy. Whether the doctor failed to notice fetal distress or used assistive devices improperly, you need the help of a birth injury lawyer in Detroit.
Emergency Room Negligence
Although ERs are hectic places where medical professionals must make fast decisions, there’s still an expected level of care. If doctors or nurses fail to meet that standard of care by administering the wrong medications, not noticing a worsening patient, or more, they can be held liable.
Anesthesia Errors
An anesthetist has to safely administer anesthesia and monitor patients for signs of distress during procedures. If they deliver too much or too little anesthesia, several different health issues can arise.
Wrongful Death
When medical errors are severe enough, they can lead a patient to die. If your loved one suffered a wrongful death in Detroit, experienced lawyers can help.
Requirements of a Detroit Medical Lawsuit
The burden of proof lies with the plaintiff in Detroit medical negligence claims. This means that you will need to establish a few key elements to be able to present the claim and have a good chance of getting compensation.
First, you have to establish that there was a patient and physician relationship and that the medical professional had a duty of care toward you. Then, you have to show that they breached that duty of care by acting in a way that another reasonably competent medical professional wouldn’t have acted.
You have to then demonstrate that their actions or inactions led you to suffer injuries and, finally, that you can be compensated for those injuries. Because it’s not always easy to prove you meet all of these requirements, you should hire a medical malpractice lawyer in Detroit to get help.
Malpractice Compensation: What Damages Can You Claim?
Whether you’ve suffered hospital negligence in Detroit or any other kind of malpractice, you have the chance to get compensation for the injuries you experienced. In Michigan, you can get economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are those that are quantifiable. Medical expenses are part of these damages. They ensure that you’re not burdened by bills after receiving care for injuries that were the result of negligence. If you need ongoing care, then you can get coverage for future medical expenses, too.
Suffering an injury because of medical malpractice can also mean having to take time off work. You can be compensated for lost income, too, including salaries, commissions, and bonuses. For people who won’t be able to return to work because of the severity of the injuries, it’s also possible to get future lost wages.
Non-economic damages are a bit more complex, requiring the help of a medical error lawyer in Detroit. Pain and suffering fit into this category. These damages are meant to compensate you for the emotional and physical distress you’ve undergone because of the injury. Most of the time, the more severe the injury, the more compensation you can receive.
If your injuries are disabling, you can also claim loss of enjoyment of life. If a loved one died as a result of medical malpractice or if they are severely disabled, you can also claim loss of consortium.
Why You Need a Lawyer for a Medical Malpractice Claim in Detroit
Filing a claim of this kind is highly complex. There are likely to be lots of parties involved, including hospitals or clinics, and these are bound to have a number of attorneys on their side. You don’t want to deal with these parties on your own.
A Detroit healthcare attorney will focus on gathering the evidence that can prove you deserve compensation so that you can focus on healing. A team like ours at Giroux Pappas Trial Attorneys knows the kinds of testimonies and evidence that can make a difference — we can guide you through every step of the process.
We know Detroit patient rights and we will negotiate aggressively on your behalf so you’re able to get fair compensation. If necessary, we will also take your case to court, which is something you should never do on your own.
Healthcare Legal in Detroit: Choose an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer
If you’ve experienced medical negligence in Detroit, turn to lawyers who have experience and the dedication to fight for you for as long as the process takes. At Giroux Pappas Trial Attorneys, you can get help from Detroit personal injury lawyers who have decades of experience helping clients get fair compensation.
You shouldn’t have to deal with medical malpractice injuries on your own. Contact our team at Giroux Pappas Trial Attorneys today.