Chicago and Waukegan Medical Negligence Lawyers

Every day, people trust doctors with their lives. That’s a reasonable assumption – physicians and other healthcare professionals have a sworn duty to provide safe, ethical and accurate medical treatment to their patients. But that doesn’t always happen. As many as 250,000 people in America are the victims of medical malpractice every year.

If you believe you are a victim of medical negligence in Illinois, contact an experienced malpractice attorney immediately. Medical malpractice cases are very demanding and require a lot of evidence, so it is best for a lawyer to get started on your case right away.

Call Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. at (888) 615-8590 or contact us online for a free and confidential consultation. With offices in Chicago and Waukegan, our firm represents victims of medical malpractice throughout Illinois.

About Medical Malpractice  

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical practitioner makes an error or fails to properly diagnose or treat an illness, resulting in a patient’s injury or death. New studies published in the journal Health Affairs suggest that significant adverse events may occur in as many as 1 in 3 hospital admissions.

Medical malpractice can have tragic consequences for victims and their families. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that 98,000 people die from injuries related to medical negligence every year.  Many others suffer lifelong disabilities as a result of their malpractice-related injuries.

Doctors are not the only people who may be held liable in a medical malpractice claim. Hospitals, hospital staff, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals may be other defendants in your malpractice action, depending on what happened and how your injury occurred.

Examples of Medical Mistakes

Unfortunately, medical malpractice takes many forms. Negligence can arise from both a doctor’s action – such as removing the wrong limb – or from inaction, such as failing to notice signs of fetal distress during labor and delivery.

Common examples of medical negligence include:

• Surgical errors:  Media outlets in recent years have widely publicized the problem of “wrong-site surgery,” which can occur when a doctor amputates the wrong limb or operates on the wrong side of the body. Other examples of surgical mistakes include using unsanitary tools, puncturing an organ and closing a wound with gauze or clamps still inside the body.
• Birth injuries: Some of the most tragic cases of medical malpractice arise from injuries that happen to newborns in the delivery room. The neglect can stem from a doctor or nurse failing to notice signs of trouble or to act in a timely manner when emergencies arise. Brain injuries, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries and nerve damage are common birth injuries that can dramatically impact the child’s future quality of life.
• Medication errors: This can occur when a doctor prescribes the wrong medication or dosage, or when he or she neglects to read the patient history sufficiently and misses notes on serious drug allergies.  This can also happen when a pharmacist incorrectly fills the prescription with the wrong medication.  
• Failure to diagnose: Doctors who take incomplete medical histories or ignore symptoms of serious medical conditions, such as cancer or infections, may be held accountable for their inattention in a malpractice claim. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that 100,000 people are killed annually from health care-acquired infection alone.
• Emergency room errors:  Healthcare professionals still owe a duty of care to their patients, even in crisis situations. Rushing through an examination could cause them to miss opportunities for treatment and aggravate existing conditions.
• Misdiagnosis:  An improper diagnosis can be just as bad as failing to diagnose, yet patients across America have suffered as a result of misdiagnoses of cancer, strokes and other serious medical conditions.

Contact Our Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today

It is important for you to know that malpractice cases are expensive to litigate, and the compensation you receive may not cover the cost of the case itself.  Talking with a skilled attorney can help you determine whether you have the foundations for a strong medical malpractice case against your doctor, hospital, nurse or other medical professional.

The attorneys at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. have extensive experience handling medical malpractice claims for clients in Chicago, Waukegan and throughout Illinois.  Call (888) 615-8590 or go online to arrange a consultation free of charge.