Medical Malpractice Lawyer In Chicago, Illinois

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

When we trust doctors and other medical professionals, we assume that they will help us recover, not cause us injuries. When medical professionals negligently or recklessly cause injuries to their patients, they breach their legal duty of care. Victims have a right to seek compensation from the medical professionals who caused their injuries through a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are notoriously complicated and time-consuming. Injured patients must bring medical malpractice lawsuits within two years of the date they discovered their injury. The sooner you contact an experienced Chicago medical malpractice lawyer, the better. At Stein & Shulman, LLC, we have a 45-year track record of obtaining large payouts for our clients who’ve been injured by negligent doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are one of the most common and devastating types of medical malpractice. Doctors and nurses have a duty to protect mothers and their infants from harm by monitoring them effectively during the birth process. When doctors wait too long to perform C-sections, the infant’s oxygen supply can become cut off, resulting in severe brain damage. Similarly, when doctors suspect medical problems, they should be prepared to provide life-saving treatment as soon as they are born, such as providing the baby with oxygen.

Likewise, when doctors fail to notice potential problems with birth and act accordingly, devastating outcomes can occur. For example, when doctors fail to realize that an infant is larger than average because of gestational diabetes, the infants could become injured in the birth canal. Many birth injuries result in neurological disabilities that can cause seizure disorders and a lifetime of doctor and therapy visits. If you suspect that a medical professional’s negligence or recklessness caused your child’s birth injury, it’s wise to contact a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible.

Medication Errors

Medication errors are another common type of medical malpractice. There are several different types of medication errors that can cause serious injuries. Doctors can prescribe the wrong type of medication or the wrong dosage of medication to a patient. Or the pharmacy could fill the correct prescription with the wrong medication or dosage. In some cases, a doctor will review the patient’s symptoms and fail to prescribe the right medication type, or the doctor may prescribe a medication to a patient with pre-existing conditions that make that medication unsafe for the patient.

Doctors and pharmacists aren’t the only medical professionals to engage in medical malpractice related to medication errors. Physician’s assistants and nurses have also used the wrong type of IV medication to treat patients, causing permanent injuries. Medication errors can cause serious problems, such as kidney damage, stroke, or significant internal bleeding. Victims of medication errors must receive treatment immediately. Unfortunately, some of these injuries end up being permanent, and the patient suffers symptoms for life. In other cases, the prescription will cause fatal reactions in the patient resulting in death.

Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis

Failure to accurately diagnose a patient’s medical condition is a type of medical malpractice. When doctors fail to diagnose a medical condition or misdiagnose a medical condition properly, the results can be deadly. For example, when doctors fail to diagnose a tumor on an X-ray, the patient’s cancer can spread rapidly. In some cases, doctors failed to diagnose tumors in time to receive meaningful treatment for their condition. As a result, cancer can spread to become stage 4 cancer, significantly decreasing the patient’s life spanned and limiting the types of available treatment options.

Surgical Errors

Despite significant regulation and the implementation of best practices across the country,  medical malpractice related to surgeries continues to happen.  Medical malpractice involving surgery can occur before, during, or after the surgical procedure. The surgeon may fail to accurately understand the patient’s pre-existing conditions before surgery, leading him or her to make errors during the surgery.

In other cases, surgeons have amputated the wrong limb or operated on the wrong side of a patient’s brain. A surgeon may not remove all surgical debris from the patient’s body before closing the patient up. Surgeons can negligently knick a patient’s heart muscle or vein with the surgical knife during the operation, causing damage. Surgeons can also fail to use the correct tools during the surgery, causing injuries. For example, when surgeons use metallic hip and joint implants, which are known to cause patients injuries, they can be held liable.

Anesthesia Errors

Medical malpractice also includes anesthesia errors during surgery.  Anesthesiologists must ensure that they have a complete understanding of their patient’s medical histories. When an anesthesiologist negligently ignores vital factors, such as a patient’s pre-existing high blood pressure, the results can be disastrous. Anesthesiologists must consider the types of complications that could arise during the surgery and treat them quickly when they occur. 

In some medical malpractice cases, the anesthesiologist ignores the patient’s vital signs during the surgery. They may be distracted or even fall asleep, causing them to miss important changes in the patient’s medical condition. When this type of medical malpractice occurs, the patient can suffer a stroke, permanent brain damage, or even death.

Contact a Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer 

Have you or your loved one suffered an injury because of a health professional’s negligence or recklessness? If so, you may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice isn’t limited to the instances mentioned above. There are many more types of medical malpractice that can cause injuries.

At Stein & Shulman, LLC, we understand how devastating injuries caused by serious medical negligence and wrongdoing can be for our clients. Many of our clients struggle to cope with their injuries while trying to pay their mounting medical bills. We don’t charge our clients any fees until we win their medical malpractice case. Contact our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers today to schedule your free consultation.

Helping clients in Chicago & the surrounding areas including, Cook CountyLake CountyDuPage CountyWill County, McHenry County, and Kane County.