If you are a victim of medical malpractice in Martinsburg, West Virginia, contact the medical malpractice lawyers at Manchin Ferretti Injury Law. You could be eligible for compensation from the at-fault physician or facility.
You trust doctors and nurses to take good care of you when you need it the most. It is your legal right to expect certain standards of care when you visit a doctor’s office, hospital or emergency center. Unfortunately, not every health care provider fulfills the mandatory standards of patient care. Medical negligence and malpractice can cause serious patient injuries, illnesses, infections, and death.
There is no set amount of money awarded for medical malpractice claims. The total amount of compensation a victim receives in a medical malpractice case will vary depending on the facts related to their particular case. However, the team at Manchin Ferretti Injury Law regularly helps victims of medical malpractice recover the following types of compensation:
Medical negligence and malpractice are similar in that they both involve the mistake of a health care professional that causes harm to a patient. Negligence is unintentional, however, while malpractice is the intentional mishandling of a patient’s care. While the health care provider may not have meant to hurt the patient in either case, malpractice involves the intentional breaking of a rule or breaching of a duty of care, while negligence is just an accident.
As an injured patient, you could have grounds for a claim for both types of medical mistakes. Speak to a medical malpractice lawyer to learn more about your options for a medical malpractice case in Martinsburg, WV.
The first step in recovering compensation for your losses is identifying the presence of medical negligence or malpractice. You will not have grounds for a claim unless you suffered real damages because of the incident, such as physical injuries or the loss of a loved one’s life. Once you have suffered damages, look back at your medical care to see if you can detect one or more of the following types of mistakes.
A misdiagnosis is said to be the most damaging type of medical mistake that can occur, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins. A misdiagnosis can occur for a variety of reasons and commonly revolves around the failure of a healthcare professional to perform necessary tests or properly review a patient’s medical history.
A failure to diagnose (also called a missed diagnosis) can be just as detrimental as a misdiagnosis. When a medical professional fails to properly diagnose a patient, this can lead to the patient not receiving the required treatment they need or to delayed treatment if they are later properly diagnosed.
Any mistake that happens during a surgical procedure can cause detrimental harm to a patient. These errors can include leaving objects behind in patients, operating on the wrong body part, operating on the wrong patient, and more. These are considered “never events” that can lead to significant injury or death.
Patients regularly undergo anesthesia for various types of medical procedures. However, the process of administering anesthesia requires extensive training and the continual monitoring of an anesthesiologist. Anesthesia requires precise calculations and a thorough knowledge of a patient’s medical history.
In general, patients must be told of all reasonably possible risks of any procedure they are going to undergo, along with the benefits of undergoing those procedures and alternative treatments. If a patient sustains an injury due to a medical procedure, but they were not told of the risks before giving their consent, they could have a medical malpractice case.
There are various mistakes that can occur when a child is being born, which can result in detrimental harm to the infant or the mother. Birth injuries can include a failure to properly use tools to aid in the delivery, failure to perform a C-section when one is indicated, failure to monitor vital signs of the mother or child, failure recognize breech birth or umbilical cord prolapse, and more.
Medication errors are incredibly common in the healthcare setting and are often caused by a lack of communication between healthcare professionals. These mistakes can include a patient receiving the wrong medication, receiving the wrong dosage of a medication, or not receiving their medication at all.
All too often, medical professionals in emergency departments are overworked or these departments are short-staffed. This can lead to a wide range of errors occurring that can harm a patient.
You may need to speak to a medical malpractice lawyer to find out if you have been the victim of medical negligence or malpractice. An attorney will have the practice area experience to analyze your case and let you know if signs of malpractice are present. If so, your Martinsburg medical malpractice lawyer may be able to help you bring a claim against the defendant at fault according to West Virginia’s medical malpractice laws.
Each state has unique laws in terms of when and how an injured patient may bring a medical malpractice claim. Under West Virginia law, you have two years from the date of the malpractice or negligence to bring your lawsuit. In a case involving wrongful death, the clock starts ticking on the date of death.
Your medical malpractice lawyer must prove the medical standard of care using a medical expert to bring a case. The medical expert must be in an appropriate field of medicine based on the details of the claim. He or she must support your grounds for bringing the lawsuit. A lawyer from Manchin Ferretti Injury Law can help you navigate West Virginia’s applicable laws for the strongest possible claim to recover damages, including hiring expert key witnesses.
The simple answer to this question is that you may not know for sure whether or not you have a medical malpractice case before you speak to a qualified attorney. An attorney who has extensive experience handling these cases will be able to help make a determination of whether or not you have a viable case. This is not the kind of decision you should be making on your own, particularly if you do not have extensive legal or medical experience.
The team at Manchin Ferretti Injury Law will be able to examine your case and determine whether or not there was a doctor-patient relationship, whether the doctor was negligent, and if the negligence caused your injury.
Anybody who has been the victim of a medical mistake, or suspects they have been the victim of a mistake, needs to understand there are steps they can take to ensure their own well being and to protect evidence in the case. Here, we outline five steps you can take if you suspect medical malpractice has occurred:
Medical malpractice victims need to ensure that their health is the number one priority. If you believe a doctor has made a mistake in your treatment or diagnosis, seek assistance from another doctor as soon as possible to correct the mistakes. Your second doctor will review what treatment or tests have been performed, along with your medical history, and begin treatment to undo any damage caused by the first doctor.
Your medical records will play an integral role in any medical malpractice case that arises. Obtaining your medical records as soon as possible needs to be a priority. This information can be used to prove that a doctor committed medical malpractice. For example, suppose you visited an emergency department because you were experiencing chest pains, and your medical records clearly state that you have a history of heart conditions in your family.
However, the doctor did not perform any tests to determine whether or not you were having a heart attack and instead diagnoses you with anxiety. If it is later determined that you had a heart attack, the medical records could show that the doctor was negligent because they failed to review the pertinent medical history and perform appropriate tests, medical malpractice may have occurred.
As soon as you suspect you have been the victim of a medical mistake, start keeping a journal where you can write down notes about your health. In this journal, you will want to describe the symptoms you are experiencing as a result of the suspected error. You should also discuss how the medical mistake has impacted your life. For example, if you are unable to work due to the injuries caused by the mistake, write down this information.
If the medical mistake keeps you from enjoying your everyday activities, like playing with your children, jot down this information. These entries can be used as evidence in your medical malpractice case, and they could be powerful tools in a jury trial.
It is important that you find a qualified and experienced medical malpractice attorney to help you handle this case. Medical malpractice cases can become incredibly complex, and most victims who are injured due to a medical error do not have the resources or experience necessary to pursue maximum compensation for their claim. Please understand that not all attorneys are experienced in handling medical malpractice cases, and your search needs to focus on finding an attorney who can handle every aspect of your claim.
Medical negligence and malpractice are serious wrongdoings that can compromise a patient’s wellbeing. All doctors, nurses, surgeons, hospitals and other health care entities have a legal obligation to reasonably ensure the safety of patients in their care. Negligently, recklessly or intentionally failing to meet this duty of care is grounds for a lawsuit in West Virginia.
If you or someone close to you has suffered injuries or damages because of alleged medical negligence or medical malpractice, please contact the Martinsburg medical malpractice lawyers at Manchin Ferretti Injury Law at (304) 264-8505. Our law firm can review your case for free and provide legal services to help you recover damages.
