Pittsburg Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A study previously published by Johns Hopkins Medicine found that an estimated 250,000 Americans die due to medical malpractice every year. A journal article published by the National Library of Medicine shows that the American Medical Association (AMA) found that at least one-third of clinicians in our country will face a malpractice lawsuit at some point during their careers.

What does all this tell you?

You have to keep your radar up when receiving health care in our country, and even if you do, it may end up with the same result, which is you need to reach out to a Pittsburg medical malpractice lawyer for help.

We have a lengthy track record advocating for victims who suffered preventable harm due to healthcare provider oversight or blatant errors in judgment. We want to be here for you in your time of need if you’ve suffered injuries or your health has worsened due to your caregiver’s negligence.

Meeting with an attorney from our office is no risk and no obligation, so let’s discuss what happened and your legal options today.

Examples of Malpractice Claims Filed Against Medical Providers

Medical negligence can take on many forms, which is why attorneys like ours handle an ever-expansive range of cases where direct care professionals and others:

• Misdiagnose patients or assign them delayed diagnoses
• Cause childbirth injuries (either to mom or baby)
• Perform surgical errors
• Misinterpret pathology results
• Fail to consent patients (carry out the informed consent process)
• Commit medication dosage errors
• Misread radiology studies (like X-rays)

Whether one of these scenarios above applies to your particular situation or something else, consider contacting our law firm, Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska LLC, to discuss what happened to you.

Your attorney can assess whether you were indeed a victim of medical malpractice and, if so, advise you of rights you’re entitled to, like perhaps taking legal action to recover compensation, per Kansas law, in situations like this.

Medical Providers Commonly Named as Defendants in Cases Like These

Many different types of healthcare professionals can and do get listed as defendants in medical malpractice lawsuits, including:

• Dentists
• Eye care professionals, such as ophthalmologists or optometrists
• Nurses
• Doctors may include emergency room physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pathologists, radiologists, gynecologists, etc.
• Pharmacists
• Mental health professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, or counselors
• Chiropractors

While the list above certainly isn’t exhaustive, it at least gives you an idea of how virtually anyone, under an unfortunate set of circumstances, can be responsible for malpractice.

Why Adverse Events Like These Occur

This type of negligence can stem from a number of factors, including:

• Failures to take comprehensive medical histories
• Not checking for drug interactions
• Hurriedness/being in a rush
• A lack of care (being more interested in a paycheck than the patient)
• Inexperience
• Not thoroughly reviewing patient records
• Problems with technology (computer errors)
• Failures to take surgical timeouts before operating on patients
• Inattentiveness
• Not asking the right questions to rule out suspected preliminary diagnoses
• Patient abuse or neglect

The reasons patients may suffer adverse medical events resulting in injuries, a worsening of their illness, or death are endless. Whether what you believe led to you or a close family member suffering harm is on the list above, or something else, it’s worth your time consulting with a lawyer to see if you have a claim worthy of pursuing.

Consultation with a Pittsburg medical malpractice lawyer is completely free here.

Your Burden of Proof as a Victim of Health Care Provider Negligence

The responsibility rests on your shoulders as the person who alleges they suffered harm at a medical care provider’s hand to prove that they engaged in malpractice. You must successfully establish the following elements to do so:

1. That your medical professional had an obligation to meet or exceed a certain standard of care that would protect you from further illness or injury when treating you
2. Your health care provider deviated from the standard of care they owed you
3. You suffered injuries
4. Your injuries stem from your healthcare provider’s breach of the standard of care they owed you

What the Claim Filing Deadline is in Cases Involving Health Professional Errors and Mistakes

In terms of civil matters like these, the legal concept “statute of limitations” refers to how long parties alleging they suffered harm to file a claim or lawsuit in their case or forever lose their ability to do so.

The Kansas statute of limitations applicable to claims like these is two years.

It’s also worth noting that, per the Kansas Department for Aging, this statute begins counting down either from:

• The actual date of injury
• The date that the injury becomes apparent to the victim

Thus, the deadline for filing a claim may extend beyond the 2-year time frame, depending on when the injury was identified, up to a maximum of between four and eight years per Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-513.

The further out date specifically applies to situations where an injury renders a patient incompetent, and they experience a restoration of competency at some point before that timeline runs out.

How Medical Malpractice Attorneys Help Their Clients

There’s a lot that needs to happen before you can ultimately take legal action against a medical provider you allege hurt you. You must compile evidence that convincingly conveys that wrongdoing occurred.

Sometimes, it’s necessary for legal professionals like ours to bring in medical reviewers like nurses or physicians into the fold to assess your records and confirm impropriety was indeed responsible for your outcome.

You can count on a Pittsburg medical malpractice lawyer like ours to have a thorough understanding of Kansas law applicable to cases like yours, to understand the legal process, to be master negotiators, and to have all the other required skills to advocate for you to secure the justice you deserve.

So, if that’s what you’re looking for, contact our law office to schedule an initial consultation.