When you are sick or injured, you place your trust in medical providers and the healthcare system. From medical technicians to surgeons and every other healthcare provider in between, you place your life in the hands of people whose responsibility it is to give you accurate, efficient, and attentive care. Unfortunately, mistakes, oversights, and neglect can easily happen, and the effects can be life-changing.
At Power Rogers, our attorneys are dedicated to holding medical practitioners who have failed their patients accountable and getting victims’ lives back on track. Below are five of the most common medical malpractice claims we see in Chicago, including examples of real cases.
Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis
When you or a loved one is ill, you see your healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment. But what happens when your provider fails to give you a proper diagnosis or diagnoses the issue too late? These situations do occur, and the results can be catastrophic and even fatal.
Not all misdiagnoses or delayed diagnoses lead to an actionable offense. Instead, the failure to diagnose must result in incorrect, delayed, or lack of treatment that causes the patient’s condition to worsen. These situations can significantly impact a patient’s ability to heal and may result in excessive medical bills for emergency treatments or surgeries.
In 2016, Power Rogers partner Devon Bruce fought for and attained the largest medical malpractice settlement in Cook County, IL. The patient, a 4-year-old child, suffered serious injuries after physicians failed to diagnose and treat a serious bacterial infection.
Failure to Treat
Doctors have a duty of care to their patients, which means they must provide necessary and reasonable treatment. If a doctor refuses to provide care or provides the wrong care, it can result in continued illness, additional medical procedures and surgeries, permanent injuries, and death.
In 2019, Powers Rogers represented a patient whose abdominal pain was left undiagnosed and untreated for over a month. Once the patient was referred to a specialist, emergency surgery determined that he was septic and his stomach was necrosed. We fought to obtain a $17 million settlement for this patient who subsequently developed ischemia in his right leg due to septic shock.
Medication Errors
Error with medication can cause serious injury and death. Medication must be heavily monitored to ensure that patients not only get the life-supporting treatments they need but also that they are not given medication that could be fatal to them.
Medication errors can occur when medication is skipped, overdosed, under-dosed, or given to the wrong person. In one case handled by Powers Rogers attorneys Joseph Balesteri and Thomas Siracusa, a burn injury victim was given two boluses of a medication called Albumin, leading her to suffer from brain damage.
Surgical Errors
Anytime a person has surgery, they are at risk of injuries sustained due to surgical oversights and errors. It’s alarming to think of, but wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-patient errors (WSPEs) do occur. In addition, errors during the appropriate surgery can also be life-altering for the patient.
When surgical errors occur, the patient can be left permanently injured, ill, or with additional medical issues due to procedures that go wrong. In one case our firm handled, our attorneys represented the family of an 8-month-old child who needed a ventricular shunt placed. The shunt failed and became lodged in the frontal lobe of the child’s brain, resulting in severe brain damage. Attorney Balesteri obtained a $17 million settlement for this family, who will have a completely different life with continued care of their child as a result of this surgical error.
Birth Injuries
The miracle of childbirth should be a happy occasion, but when additional care is needed, or when the proper protocols are missed, injuries to both the mother and child can occur. Medications used to induce labor can be improperly dosed, delivery providers may wait too long to recommend a C-section, and preexisting medical conditions of the mother may be missed, resulting in birth injuries to the baby.
In 2021, Powers Rogers represented a mother who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and advised to deliver her baby at 39 weeks gestation. After induction, she was sent home when the supervising obstetrician determined no cervical change had occurred. When she returned for induction, she was allowed to labor for hours despite abnormalities that were discovered on fetal heart tracings. As a result, the baby was born with brain injuries that resulted in spastic cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder. Attorneys Joseph Power Jr. and Balesteri obtained a $19 million settlement for this family.
These medical malpractice cases may seem extreme, but we see them every day. Our firm is dedicated to fighting major health systems and powerful providers and their insurers to ensure that victims receive the compensation they need to rebuild and restart their lives.
How to Recognize the Signs of Medical Malpractice
If you aren’t sure if you’ve been victimized by the healthcare system or have experienced medical malpractice, scheduling a visit with our office is a good place to start. Our experienced attorneys will review your case and help you determine if a malpractice case exists.
Signs that you may have been subject to medical malpractice can include:
- Unusual complications or unexpected symptoms. Any condition or treatment carries the risk of complications, but if you are experiencing complications that are not typical for your treatment or condition, they could be the result of a medical error.
- Your condition worsens. If, after surgery or treatment, your treatment worsens or leads to additional issues, there’s a possibility you may have been misdiagnosed or treated improperly.
- Your doctor ignores your concerns. Your concerns for treatment and your health are real. Your healthcare provider owes you a duty of care that involves listening to your concerns and taking them seriously.
- You receive substandard care. Not all doctors are qualified to treat all conditions. It is possible that the care you received was not within the scope of care your provider was able to give you, which can result in wrong treatments, a lower level of care, and worsening medical conditions.
If you’re questioning your care, you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced attorney to review your case.
The Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Power Rogers Can Help You Seek Justice
Medical malpractice cases often require a substantial amount of evidence to prove liability. Healthcare systems and providers are backed by large insurers with massive legal teams, but you do not have to fight them alone. Powers Rogers will fight aggressively for your rights and to prevent medical malpractice errors in the future. Contact us today to receive the help you need to get back on your feet.
