Medical Malpractice Attorney in Waltham

There are about as many different types of medical malpractice as there are types of medicine. However, certain types are more common than most.

Birth Injuries

The birth of a child is shockingly dangerous. Both mother and child are in danger during every pregnancy. During a delivery, the medical staff is supposed to do everything in their power to protect both the child and the mother from harm.

When the medical staff makes a mistake during a pregnancy, the mother, child, or both can be injured or die. Children are also at risk for birth abnormalities like brain damage, which can permanently disable the child. Birth injuries to the mother have a reasonably high chance of preventing the mother from ever being able to give birth again.

Chart Errors

A chart error occurs in a hospital when the instructions on a patient’s chart do not reflect the treatment that the patient should be receiving for their injury or illness. This can happen because a doctor or nurse makes a mistake when putting information on the chart. That mistake is then read by a different medical staff member later and used to treat the individual incorrectly.

A chart error can also happen when the wrong chart is accidentally assigned to the wrong patient. Despite the difference in how this occurs, the result will be identical. A doctor or nurse, following the instructions on the chart, will give the wrong medication or treatment to a patient. In the worst scenario, a patient might undergo surgery that they should not have received.

Surgical Mistakes

Surgery is a very precise science. If a doctor makes a cut that is off by even a few millimeters, it can mean the difference between life and death for a patient. But surgical mistakes that count as medical malpractice aren’t a result of honest mistakes. Surgical mistakes are medical malpractice when a surgeon or assistant is negligent.

For example, if a surgeon performs surgery while drunk or overtired, any mistakes they make aren’t honest mistakes. Those mistakes are a result of performing surgery while not mentally capable of performing that surgery safely.

Another common surgical mistake involves leaving items inside a patient. This is often a result of rushing surgery or leaving portions of surgery to an assistant that isn’t qualified. When a sponge or glove is left inside a patient, that foreign object can poison the patient and will likely result in death if another surgery isn’t performed quickly to remove the foreign object.

Diagnostic Errors

Correctly diagnosing a patient is one of the most important steps of medical treatment. Treatment generally will not be effective if a doctor treats the wrong ailment. When diagnosing a patient, a doctor is supposed to diligently test for all possible ailments and determine what is ailing the patient.

Unfortunately, some doctors will rush this portion of treatment. When a doctor skips tests or disregards conflicting results, the doctor may make an incorrect diagnosis. That incorrect diagnosis can lead to unnecessary treatment and prevent a patient from getting the treatment that they need. Both situations can be fatal if not corrected quickly and will likely cause significant harm even if the diagnosis is corrected in time to prevent death.

The medical field has thousands of rules and regulations that are designed to protect patients from irresponsible medical personnel. If you have ever seen a doctor change their gloves between medical procedures, the reason is that medical science has determined that it is safer for patients if doctors change their gloves at certain times. Doctors who ignore these best practices are recklessly endangering their patients, and if this recklessness causes harm, the doctor has committed medical malpractice.

A medical malpractice attorney in Waltham is familiar with best medical practices and the consequences of ignoring them. If you believe that you have been a victim of medical malpractice, your Morgan and Morgan attorney will investigate your medical care and look for evidence that your doctor failed to follow proper procedures.

While medical malpractice lawyers are trained to recognize the signs of malpractice, typically, your attorney will need to confer with an experienced doctor to get proof. This means that another doctor will evaluate you independently and provide a second opinion, which can then be used as evidence if the case goes to trial.

Whenever possible, your medical malpractice attorney in Waltham will try to avoid taking your case to trial. This is because medical malpractice trials involve a lot of complicated medical terminology that can confuse a jury. It is much better and faster to get you a settlement without going to trial.

Typically, if your lawyer can get multiple doctors to attest that you suffered harm due to the reckless or negligent actions of your doctor, the malpractice insurance company for that doctor will make a settlement offer. The insurance company knows that you would likely win at trial and would rather pay a settlement without having to also foot legal bills. When negotiating a settlement, your attorney will always ensure that you receive enough money to cover all medical bills, past, and future, resulting from the medical malpractice.

Typically, a medical malpractice trial will take a few years to complete. For very complex cases that involve multiple appeals, a medical malpractice trial could take up to a decade.

If you suspect that you have been a victim of medical malpractice, you should seek a second opinion immediately. Harm from medical malpractice is often quite serious and has a high chance of resulting in death. Before worrying about your legal options, get treatment from another doctor to ensure that your life is not in danger.

Unfortunately, wrongful death lawsuits are very common when dealing with medical malpractice. While your Morgan & Morgan attorney can’t bring back your loved one, they will do everything in their power to get you the compensation that will help you recover financially after that loss.

Typically, medical malpractice is treated as a civil matter rather than a criminal matter. However, in some cases, medical malpractice crosses the line into criminal activity. If your Morgan and Morgan attorney believes that your case has criminal implications, they will contact the district attorney and see about getting justice for you or your family.

At Morgan & Morgan, we take all medical malpractice cases on contingency. This means that if we can’t get you the compensation, we don’t get paid. This is particularly important for medical malpractice cases because it means that we pay for all medical consultations that we use to support your claim.

The first thing that we do after you contact us is to schedule a free case evaluation. During that evaluation, our experienced lawyers examine the details of your case and evaluate how likely it is that we can win your case. If we agree to take your case, that means we believe that you are highly likely to win.

As a rule of thumb, you should contact an attorney as soon as you believe that you have been the victim of medical malpractice. The sooner that you contact a lawyer, the sooner the lawyer can start investigating your case. Often, evidence will be more challenging to uncover the longer you wait. Furthermore, there is a statute of limitations that limits how long you have to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice, and you don’t want to run afoul of that.

Until your attorney has had a chance to look at a settlement offer, you should never accept any settlement offer you receive. The odds are that the first offer you receive will be for less money than you need to recover from the malpractice. And if you accept an offer, that will usually prevent you from getting more money in the future. Your attorney will evaluate any offer that is made to you and advise you on whether you should accept it or hold out for more.

If you or a loved one has suffered from medical malpractice, you shouldn’t be paying for the consequences alone. An experienced medical malpractice attorney in Waltham from Morgan and Morgan can help you get the compensation that you need to fully recover from medical malpractice. We have won thousands of cases and gotten our clients billions of dollars since our law firm was formed in 1988. 

Contact us today to learn about how we can help you during your free case evaluation and consultation.