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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
There has been a lot of debate about medical malpractice and its impact on our health care system. Most of the people advocating reform have a financial interest in the outcome, specifically doctors, their insurance carriers, and the lobbyists that they pay to influence our elected officials.
The reality nationwide is that nearly 300 people die each day as a result of medical errors. This is almost double the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents. Medical errors can cause injuries such as birth trauma, brain injury, paralysis, amputation, disability, disfigurement, permanent or disfiguring scars, and disability, as well as mental injuries such as emotional trauma, anguish, embarrassment, and loss of enjoyment. Lifelong disabilities can occur as a result of medical negligence.
The reality for Hoosiers is that draconian reforms have already been in place here for a long time. Strict caps severely limit what can be recovered in a medical malpractice case. No matter how badly you are hurt and no matter how much your medical bills will be over your lifetime because of a medical mistake, you cannot recover more than a set amount for medical malpractice in the State of Indiana.
But the “reforms” do not end there. Every medical malpractice case must be reviewed by a panel of doctors before it can be heard in a court of law. This three doctor panel will make a decision as to whether malpractice occurred. If the panel rules against your case, then this opinion can be used as evidence against you when the case goes to trial. Needless to say, medical malpractice cases in Indiana are extremely complicated.
Medical malpractice claims are one of the most difficult areas of litigation, so you need a competent and experienced lawyer who can demonstrate that your injury was the result of medical negligence. To succeed, you often need a network of attorneys and medical experts working on your behalf to win.
The negligent health care provider may not be the doctor, nurse, or a member of the staff. It is possible that the individual is a lab or x-ray technician with certain qualifications for operating advanced medical equipment or interpreting results of tests. A facility or company may also be liable for malpractice. Many times, a hospital, an ambulance company, a pharmacy, or a nursing home will be subject to malpractice.
The injured person can establish a case of medical malpractice if there is legally sufficient proof on initial examination that the medical provider failed to exercise reasonable care in performing services, and that this failure increased the risk of harm or injury to the patient, and that such harm did in fact occur. Some examples of medical malpractice or negligence are misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, or delayed diagnosis; diagnostic errors in serious conditions such as heart attacks, breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer and appendicitis; surgical errors; anesthetic errors; medication errors such as adverse reactions to drugs or procedures and drug interactions; providing the wrong treatment; dangerous delivery procedures for newborns; and failure to protect a patient from a fall or other injury on hospital property.
If you or a loved one have fallen victim to medical malpractice, you have the right to seek compensation. By pursuing legal action, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries, as well as other related costs, such as medical expenses, loss of wages, and pain and suffering. If you have suffered physical or emotional harm because of someone else’s unreasonable negligence, you are entitled to file a claim against the party at fault.