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How Do I Know if I Have a Medical Malpractice Case?

If you or a loved one was injured or killed due to a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional or facility failing to provide you with proper medical care or treatment, it is likely that you have a medical malpractice cause of action. The Chicago medical malpractice attorneys of Levin & Perconti can help you and your loved ones determine if your particular situation constitutes negligence and is likely litigable.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice goes beyond a doctor or other medical professional merely making a mistake: while many patients will have the unfortunate experience of their health care professionals making a mistake, not all of these mistakes are of a serious enough degree to be considered medical malpractice. In order for a medical mistake to rise to the level of medical malpractice, the health care professional involved must have acted negligently. In order to bring a medical malpractice action, the doctor, facility, or other medical professional must not only make a mistake through a negligent action, the mistake must cause injury to either the patient or their family member.

Negligence itself, in a theoretical sense, is determined in light of what a reasonably prudent medical professional would have done in the same set of circumstances. When determining how a particular action by a medical professional in a medical malpractice suit will be judged, first the court must look at what the standard of care that the professional will be held to. That standard of care is what procedures, methods, and actions would be used by other medical professionals treating a person with the same injuries or under the same or similar circumstance in the same place that the treatment occurred. As an example, in the case of a 30 year old working professional with diabetes living in Cook County, the standard of care their doctor or nurse must use is the standard other doctors in Cook County or the greater Chicago area would use in treating a 30 year old with diabetes.

What are Some Common Ways a Doctor Can Negligently Breach the Standard of Care?

A doctor can breach the standard of care in the treatment of a patient in essentially any way that they can provide treatment that is less careful and prudent than the way that other doctors in their area would treat the same condition. Some of the more common types of errors and mistakes that are often seen in lawsuits alleging medical negligence include things such as:

Our Chicago Attorneys Can Help

At Levin & Perconti, our medical malpractice attorneys are here to evaluate your case and guide you through the legal process. We have over 20 years of experience representing victims in and around Chicago and throughout the greater Illinois area, and can help you determine if you have a case. We understand that a lawsuit may not reverse the harms caused by a medical mistake. However, it is important to take legal action to ensure that all wrongdoers are held accountable for their mistakes. If we accept your case, you will not pay attorneys’ fees until or unless we successfully resolve your lawsuit.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you, please call us at 312-332-2872 or toll free at 877-374-1417. You can also fill out our Free Online Case Evaluation Form and someone will call you back shortly.

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