Creve Coeur Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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.

Defining Medical Negligence in Missouri

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.

Examples of Common Healthcare Provider Malpractice

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:

• Misdiagnoses – Many patients experience a missed or wrong diagnosis, making this the most common basis for medical malpractice litigation. Carelessly misidentifying cancer, failing to spot prenatal conditions, or treating the wrong disorder may cause harm necessitating legal representation
• Surgical/anesthesia mistakes – The wrong dosage of anesthesia may result in permanent brain damage or death. Tired and careless surgeons have also left surgical equipment inside patients, operated on the wrong limbs, and exposed patients to post-surgical infections
• Prescription errors – A single mathematical mistake might result in a fatal dosage of intravenous mediation resulting in liver damage, kidney failure, or other life-threatening conditions. Doctors might also fail to review patients medical records for common drug allergies, including penicillin, or prescribe unmixable medications
• Treatment omissions – Once a medical professional agrees to provide care, they must give patients timely help. Doctors might cause additional harm to patients by delaying necessary surgeries, ignoring lab results, or not following up with patients when necessary
• Birth Injuries – Many preventable injuries to infants and mothers occur due to OBGYN and midwife negligence. Failing to spot abnormalities on ultrasounds or perform necessary C-sections might result in nerve damage, cerebral palsy, infertility, or fatalities

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.

Damages Available to Injured Patients

Successful claimants in medical negligence cases could recover for their direct economic loses without limitations, including:

• Nursing care
• Rehabilitation
• Medical expenses
• Lost income
• Lost career opportunities and earning capacity
• Long-term care

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.

Speak with a Creve Coeur Medical Malpractice Attorney

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.