Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer - Anthony G. Argeros
Every year thousands of people are injured as a result of medical malpractice. In 1990, a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that, each year, more than 3% of patients in New York State hospitals suffered some form of a medical mistake which resulted in serious injury. Nationally, the Harvard Medical Practice Study estimated that, each year, more than 180,000 people die, at least in part, because of medical mistakes. Public Citizen, non-profit organization which advocates the rights of consumers, estimates that, each year, 1.3 million injuries are caused by negligence, and that more than two-thirds of these injuries are preventable.
Medical malpractice is the failure of a doctor or other licensed medical professional to provide a patient with treatment equal to the customary standard of care, which results in an injury or loss to the patient.
Injured persons may sue for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the conduct or for monetary damages. Injured parties may recover the following damages, and they include both present and future expected losses.
» Lost wages
» Pain and suffering
» Medical expenses
» Punitive damages in extraordinary cases
There are many particulars about medical malpractice that one should be aware of before filing a medical malpractice claim.
An expert doctor witness is required throughout the case. This not only has to be paid for, but makes the case usually take longer than other personal injury cases.
Most states have limited the amount of reward that can be awarded in a medical malpractice case. In addition, the time limit to file has been shortened in some states. Some states have even established mandatory arbitration before a case can proceed to court.
Due to the timeframes required, the degree of coordination with other individuals such as the expert doctor witness, and the state by state nature of laws governing medical malpractice cases, it is highly recommended that anyone seeking to file a medical malpractice claim retain a lawyer rather than try to bring the case to court without proper counsel and understanding of what is required.
Medical errors are responsible for almost 100.000 wrongful deaths each year, more than all Americans killed on all U.S. highways! Doctor errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Our Nationwide lawyer referral service can locate an experienced attorney who concentrates in negligence lawsuits. Deaths caused by cancer misdiagnosis are increasing despite advances made in screening for breast cancer. The average intensive care unit Boston Hospital patient experiences almost two errors per day. A recent New England Journal of Medicine study showed that one of every three doctors said that they or family members had been victims of a preventable medical mistake; Nearly 30 percent of doctors said they had seen a serious medical error in the past year.
The improper administration of drugs causes injury to over 1.3
million persons annually because of doctor prescription errors
such as mislabeling, using incomplete patient information, contraindications,
improper combinations of medicines, miscommunication of drug
orders, inappropriate bottle labeling, and mistaking drugs with
similar names such as Celebrex and Celexa. The MEDMARX medication-error
reporting system has been running for four years now and is
a computer designed program to monitor the safe dosage of medicines,
however it has met with great resistance from practicing hospital
physicians. Albuterol, insulin and morphine were the top three
pharmaceuticals involved in improper reactions.  That
is why it is so important to hire a lawyer knowledgeable in
the law and able to read your records.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of medical malpractice or medical negligence, please call the toll free number to speak with a qualified medical malpractice attorney.
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