When a healthcare professional fails to meet their high standard of care, patients can suffer grave harm as a result. Experienced personal injury attorneys often see medical negligence cases occur due to physicians misreading critical test results, prescribing the wrong medications, or dismissing patient concerns.
If your condition worsened after seeking treatment, a Creve Coeur medical malpractice lawyer could review your case and determine if your physician behaved in a negligent manner. You may be able to recover substantial damages with a skilled injury attorney’s help if a doctor failed to comply with required medical standards.
Missouri Revised Statutes §538.210 governs actions for improper health care in the state. Under this code section, claimants alleging malpractice must show that a treating medical professional failed to act with the skill and knowledge typically used by other members of the profession and caused the patient to suffer harm.
Complex legal questions about the appropriate standard of medical care often arise during professional misconduct litigation. Courts look at the unique circumstances of each case and the accepted medical standards in the doctor’s area of practice. Skilled lawyers commonly work with local healthcare experts to establish the standard of care applicable to each medical malpractice case.
It may take time to trace the worsening of a medical condition to provider malpractice. Once patients have a diagnosis and treatment plan, few doctors question the initial diagnosis or review old medical charts for potential errors. The following mistakes commonly support improper health care claims:
Sometimes hard-to-diagnosis diseases and untreatable illnesses leave doctors unable to help patients as conditions worsen. An attorney could help claimants in Creve Coeur determine whether a worsening condition or injury resulted from malpractice by a healthcare provider.
Successful claimants in medical negligence cases could recover for their direct economic loses without limitations, including:
However, §538.210 limits the amount and availability of non-economic and punitive damages in improper health care cases. The state caps recovery for indirect damages, including those for pain, emotional suffering, inconvenience, disfigurement, and loss of life’s enjoyments, to $400,000 in most cases. A qualified lawyer could argue for additional non-economic damages if the medical malpractice resulted in a catastrophic injury.
From missing signs of a heart attack to prescribing the wrong medication, doctors could make life-changing mistakes. Fortunately, attorneys could help you hold doctors, dentists, registered nurses, physician’s assistants, and healthcare facilities liable for medical negligence.
Bringing a claim for improper health care often requires an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Schedule your free case review with our dedicated legal team today.