Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer

We trust doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to provide reasonably careful medical care and to meet the established standards of their profession. Unfortunately, sometimes our care providers fail to meet their duty of care, making critical errors that compromise patient safety and increase the risk of profound or permanent harm. When substandard care results in preventable injuries, victims and their families have the right to seek justice and fair compensation. As proven medical malpractice attorneys in Chicago, we have the skills and resources to help.

At Power Rogers, we address all medical malpractice cases with integrity and conviction. Holding healthcare professionals accountable for their mistakes benefits the system as a whole ensuring the same mistakes do not harm another patient or family. We are careful to accept only meritorious cases, maintaining our firm’s reputation for ethical advocacy.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a type of negligence committed by a professional healthcare provider whose care and treatment depart from the standard of care required for that profession, resulting in harm to their patient. Medical malpractice can occur when a healthcare provider does something they should not do or fails to do something they should do.

When patients suffer harm due to substandard care, they may have the option to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, it is important to note that what may appear to be medical malpractice to the untrained eye may not be malpractice under the law, especially as there are inherent risks to obtaining medical treatment, and because there are generally no guarantees patients will be satisfied with medical results.

If you or a loved one suffered preventable harm due to what you believe is medical malpractice, the most important step you can take is to consult a medical malpractice lawyer at Power Rogers as soon as possible. We can help you understand how medical malpractice lawsuits work, what laws may apply to your case, and what your rights are when it comes to taking legal action.

Do You Need a Lawyer for Medical Malpractice in Chicago?

Yes. Medical malpractice lawsuits are notoriously complex, and they require immense resources and experience to effectively prepare and litigate. What’s more, defendants against whom these claims are filed, and especially the insurance companies that represent them, are the same parties that consistently back so-called “tort reform,” and lobby lawmakers to pass legislation that limits a victim’s access to the courts.

These efforts, which result in unfair laws like damages caps, show medical insurers value profits more than people, and act to shield providers against any claims of liability at the expense of someone who is seriously injured.

At Power Rogers, our attorneys have demonstrated success in this unique area of law and can guide victims through the difficult and emotionally turbulent legal journey step by step. Our team of medical malpractice lawyers in Chicago can help you by:

• Gathering and analyzing medical records to identify deviations from the standard of care.
• Securing testimony from qualified medical experts to establish exactly how the negligence occurred and how it caused harm.
• Interviewing witnesses and healthcare staff to strengthen your case with first-hand accounts.
• Calculating the full extent of your losses, including medical bills, lost wages, future care costs, and the long-term impact on your life.
• Preparing every case as if it’s going to trial, including filing a lawsuit, handling discovery, and crafting a clear, evidence-backed narrative for a jury.
• Handling all communications with insurers and opposing counsel so you can focus on your recovery while we protect your legal rights.

Why Choose Power Rogers? We Are Leaders In Illinois Medical Malpractice Law

Power Rogers is an Illinois-based trial practice recognized nationally for our work in complex medical malpractice cases, as well as our strong record of results. In addition to recovering over $5 billion for our clients, our firm has obtained some of the most substantial and noteworthy medical malpractice results in the country, setting local, state, and national records along the way.

Our track record includes:

• $55.4 Million – In a case involving the failure to properly give oxygen or intubate and give oxygen to a 54-year-old lady undergoing a bronchoscopic procedure and biopsy.
  
• $47.5 Million – This case involved a 4-year-old child who suffered serious injuries after his physicians failed to diagnose and treat a bacterial infection.
  
• $40 Million – After a minor suffered catastrophic irreversible neurologic injury due to multiple failures by healthcare providers.

Other notable hallmarks of our firm include:

• We handle the most complicated medical negligence cases, specializing in birth injury, paralysis, brain injury, and wrongful death cases
• Almost every one of Joe Power’s cases has resulted in tripling the pretrial offer to settle.
• We have represented clients of all backgrounds, including NFL players in the Chicago Bears organization.

We know how to investigate these cases in order to protect our clients’ rights, including obtaining necessary medical records, witnesses, and medical experts. Our ability to advocate for our clients has been proven over the course of our firm’s history. If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of medical malpractice, it is absolutely worth your time to speak with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer. There are strict time limits for filing medical malpractice cases, however, so do not wait to reach out.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases Our Firm Handles

• Hospital negligence
• Emergency room errors
• Medication errors
• Anesthesia errors
• Hemorrhagic stroke
• Sepsis / septic shock
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
• Plastic surgery errors
• Improper treatment
• Birth-related injuries to children and mothers
• Surgical errors
• Missed or delayed diagnosis
• Failure to diagnose cancer
• Misdiagnosis of a heart attack
• Undiagnosed internal bleeding
• Lack of informed consent

What Damages Can You Pursue in a Chicago Medical Malpractice Case?

Although every victim or family will incur unique losses, plaintiffs in medical malpractice claims are generally entitled to a recovery of their physical, financial, and emotional damages. As your Chicago medical malpractice attorneys, Power Rogers can fight to recover compensation for your or your family’s:

• Pain and suffering
• Lost income / reduced earning potential
• Emotional distress / mental anguish
• Loss of enjoyment or quality of life
• Medical expenses (past and future)
• Disfigurement
• Lost future wages
• Loss of consortium (awarded to victims’ spouses)
• Loss of society (wrongful death)
• Funeral and burial expenses (wrongful death)
• Grief and sorrow (wrongful death)

Securing full compensation is critical for victims, especially when serious or permanent injuries necessitate long-term medical needs or a lifetime of medical care. In addition to collaborating with experts to establish malpractice, our team also leverages expert insight to calculate past and future damages and fight for the maximum compensation possible.

How to Prove Medical Malpractice: Four Important Elements

A key element to having a successful case is proving negligence. Negligence is the failure to use reasonable care, or a failure to use the same degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances. In most cases, our attorneys will need to demonstrate the following four elements:

• Legal duty – For there to be any valid basis for a medical malpractice claim, a legitimate doctor-patient relationship must be proven. That means plaintiffs need to show they were in fact being treated by the provider against whom their claims are made, and that the physician or other care provider had a duty to treat them differently.
• Breach of duty – To prevail in a medical malpractice case, it must be shown that the provider failed to meet or violated the applicable “standard of care,” and therefore breached their duty of care. A departure from accepted standards is generally proven through expert witness testimony thereby illustrating how a reasonably careful provider would have acted in the same or similar circumstances and how the defendant provider’s care differed from that standard.
• Causation – Proving a breach of duty is only the first step in substantiating a malpractice claim; plaintiffs must additionally establish the link between the breach and the harm they claim to have suffered as a result. Given the highly technical nature of the practice of medicine, proving causation can be extremely difficult.  Meticulous investigations, collaboration with medical experts, and extensive knowledge of the law are crucial to proving medical negligence as a proximate cause of the injuries claimed and that with proper care, the injuries complained of were avoidable.
• Damages – Medical malpractice claims allow victims to recover financial compensation for their damages (including their past and future pain and suffering, financial losses, and emotional injuries, among others). If there are no damages, there is no case – and if victims did in fact incur damages, a full accounting of their past and future losses is crucial to recovering the full amount of compensation they need and deserve.

These concepts can seem complicated at first, but we are adept at simplifying complex medical and legal information for our clients and for jurors hearing their cases.

What Evidence Do You Need to Win a Medical Malpractice Case?

As with all personal injury cases, strong evidence is vital to winning a medical malpractice case. This evidence can range from copies of your medical records to photos of your injury. Below, we’ve compiled a checklist of items that could help your attorney win your case.

• Medical bills – Keep track of your expenses and the costs related to your injury, including bills and invoices from your doctors, emergency room visits, therapists, and so forth. You may be able to receive compensation for these costs.
• Medical prescriptions – Was your injury caused or exacerbated by your prescription medications? Keep track of your pharmaceutical records.
• Proof of missed wages – Did your injury cause you to miss work? Obtaining copies of your pay stubs and tax returns could help you receive full compensation in a successful medical malpractice case.
• Insurance information – Don’t throw away documents pertaining to your health insurance coverage! Find out if you were unfairly denied or billed. Our team can analyze your insurance information to help you.
• Medical records – Receive copies of your medical records. This is essential in proving your injury and in winning your case.
• Photos of your injury – If applicable, photographic evidence can be extremely beneficial in a court case. Take periodic photographs of your injuries and treatments.

Even if you don’t have these documents on hand, don’t worry, we can still get started on your case.

Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer: FAQs

Who can you sue for medical malpractice?

Depending on the individual facts of a case, victims may bring medical malpractice lawsuits against various parties. This may include individuals such as a negligent doctor, a nurse or physician’s assistant, their attending provider, like a surgeon, a consulting provider like a neurologist, or a provider responsible for interpreting ordered tests like a radiologist.Entities such as ahospital, medical group, and other healthcare providers that participated in care may also be included.

Is there a statute of limitations on medical malpractice in Illinois?

Yes. Statutes of limitations are complex and require analysis of the plaintiff’s age, their injuries, and who provided the allegedly negligent care.  In general, in Illinois, a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed within two years of the injury or death—or within two years of when the plaintiff knew or should have known malpractice caused the harm. However, no claim can be filed more than four years after the malpractice occurred, regardless of when it was discovered. If the victim was under 18, the statute extends to eight years from the incident but not beyond the victim’s 22nd birthday.

How do you find a medical malpractice attorney?

Experience in medical malpractice cases is critical, as these cases are more complex and require more resources than general personal injury cases. Gauge their success with these types of cases by looking at their results both in settlements and at trial, and check to see whether they work with medical experts. Many attorneys for medical malpractice offer free consultations, so use this time as an opportunity to understand more about their experience, communication style, and other factors.

How long does a medical malpractice case take?

There is no set timeline for a medical malpractice case, but due to their complexity and the number of parties involved, the majority take three or more years. This depends on a wide range of factors, such as how complex the medical issues are, the nature of the injuries, how many Defendants are named, the jurisdiction, how willing the healthcare provider or insurer is to negotiate, and whether the case goes to trial.

Do most medical malpractice cases settle?

Yes, the majority of cases settle before going to trial, as doing so is typically faster and more cost-effective for all parties involved. That being said, most medical negligence cases settlement after lengthy investigation, filing of the lawsuit, and litigation to establish proofs needed to successfully try the case before a jury.

Are medical malpractice settlements taxable?

In general, no, recoveries in personal injury cases, including medical negligence, are not taxable as they are considered compensatory as opposed to earning. There are exceptions to this general rule, which must be analyzed and explained by an experienced attorney..

How are medical malpractice settlements paid out?

Settlements are typically paid either as a lump sum or through structured payments over time. The structure depends on what is negotiated and what best meets your financial needs.

Contact Our Chicago Medical Malpractice Law Firm Today To Request A Free Consultation

Medical malpractice claims are among the most challenging “torts” in the civil justice system, and they demand a great deal of experience, expert knowledge, and determination to effectively resolve. According to the Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter, less than 30% of medical malpractice victims in Cook County win their cases.

At Power Rogers, our legal team is equipped to help victims prepare winning medical malpractice claims, level the playing field with powerful corporate defendants and insurers, and fight for the justice and compensation they deserve. Our reputation as proven trial lawyers for medical malpractice, a record of notable cases, and respect earned for only pursuing meritorious cases, precedes us and helps our clients prevail.

If you have questions about a potential medical malpractice case anywhere in Chicago or the state of Illinois, call 312-210-8411 to speak with an attorney, or simply contact us online. Consultations are free and confidential.