Southfield Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Experienced Southfield Medical Malpractice Attorneys Fight To Protect Those Injured by Medical Negligence

When you visit a doctor’s office, urgent care center, or hospital, you expect medical professionals to exercise their judgment and provide care that helps you. If a medical professional fails to meet the standard of care, you may suffer serious injuries or illness.

Medical malpractice claims hold negligent healthcare providers accountable for the harm they caused. You can seek compensation for your injuries and help improve the safety and reliability of Michigan’s healthcare system. If you’ve been injured, the experienced Southfield medical malpractice lawyers at Sommers Schwartz, P.C., can help.

Medical Malpractice in Michigan

Michigan healthcare workers must provide treatment that meets the “standard of care.” This requirement is typically defined as “the type and level of care an ordinary, prudent health care professional, with the same training and experience, would provide under similar circumstances in the same community.”

Doctors, hospitals, and medical malpractice insurers often vigorously contest medical malpractice claims. Insurance companies hire skilled, experienced attorneys to defend against these claims. They use all available tactics and resources to avoid admitting liability and paying compensation.

Medical malpractice claims can be complex. Proving that a medical provider failed to meet the standard of care and caused your injuries often requires the help of an equally skilled attorney and one or more expert witnesses. Since Michigan has specific rules that apply to medical malpractice claims, these claims differ from ordinary personal injury cases.

Due to the unique challenges involved in litigating medical malpractice claims, hiring a seasoned Michigan medical malpractice attorney is crucial. An experienced lawyer will help you navigate your claim and protect your legal rights.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice

A 2016 Johns Hopkins study ranked medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States. These errors can occur at any point in medical care, and many are preventable. An error often indicates healthcare providers have failed to meet the applicable standard of care.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the most common errors are medication errors, surgical errors, diagnosis mistakes or delays, and patient care and documentation errors.

Medication Errors

Correctly prescribing and administering medication can mean the difference between life and death. Medication errors can cause serious illness, permanent injury, or even death. Common medication errors include:

• A doctor prescribes the wrong medication, the wrong dose, or an inappropriate administration schedule.
• A pharmacy dispenses the wrong medication or provides incorrect instructions for dosing or scheduling.
• A nurse or other healthcare provider administers the wrong medication or dose at the wrong time or to the wrong patient.
• A doctor or pharmacist fails to note a patient’s allergies and other medications, then prescribes, dispenses, or administers a drug to which the patient is allergic, or that interacts dangerously with other medications the patient is taking.

Surgical Errors

Sometimes, surgeries don’t go as planned. Not every adverse outcome is avoidable. However, surgical teams must use appropriate care to ensure patient safety. Surgical tools, training, and operational procedures are all designed to minimize risk. When surgical errors occur, serious or fatal injuries can result. Common surgical errors include:

• Leaving surgical tools, instruments, or foreign matter in the body.
• Causing damage to other body parts while performing surgery.
• Anesthesia errors.
• Performing surgery on the wrong part of the body.
• Failing to adequately warn a patient about the risks involved.

Post-surgical recovery is another crucial time when minor errors can have devastating consequences. Improper or inadequate post-operative care can also constitute malpractice.

Diagnosis Errors

The first step in providing effective medical care is properly diagnosing a patient’s problem. A timely, accurate diagnosis offers insight into the best treatment. When diagnostic errors occur, problems can multiply quickly.

The two most common diagnosis errors are misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose. Misdiagnosis occurs when the patient receives a diagnosis for a condition the patient doesn’t have, while failure to diagnose misses a condition the patient has. These two errors often occur together. For example, imagine a patient goes to the ER complaining of headaches. Doctors improperly interpret her test results and fail to notice signs indicating a brain tumor. Instead, she is misdiagnosed with migraines.

Misdiagnosis exposes a patient to unnecessary medication and other treatments with their own risk of harm. It also delays diagnosis and treatment of a patient’s actual condition, allowing it to continue or worsen. By the time the patient is diagnosed correctly, they may have suffered irreversible harm.

Patient Care and Documentation Errors

Healthcare providers must also meet the standard of care when documenting patients’ treatment and medical history and providing daily care. Errors in documentation can result in a patient’s chart failing to include essential information, such as the patient’s allergies, prior surgeries, blood type, or medical history. If the information is missing and incorrect, it can further increase the risk of harm.

Regular, daily patient care also presents many opportunities for injury. One common patient care error is failing to use adequate measures to prevent patients from falling. Many serious injuries result from preventable falls. Healthcare facilities and staff members must always use appropriate care to ensure patient safety.

Preventable Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice in Southfield

Providers may be held liable for injuries that would not have happened if they had adhered to the standard of care. Some examples of preventable injuries that could result from medical malpractice include:

• Brain and spinal cord injuries from falls, lack of oxygen to the brain in anesthesia, misdiagnosed strokes or similar conditions, and other preventable situations.
• Broken bones and similar injuries from preventable falls, mishandling during transport, abuse, or neglect.
• Internal bleeding caused by improper medications, surgical mistakes, or negligent monitoring.
• Nerve damage due to surgical errors, injuries from falls, or improperly attached medical or monitoring equipment.
• Harmful chemical imbalances in the body, most commonly resulting from medication errors. These imbalances can permanently impair the brain, spinal cord, major organs, and other vital body systems.
• Severe infections caused by improperly sterilized equipment, lack of handwashing procedures, or improper safety procedures. These infections can be life-threatening and difficult to treat.

Many other types of preventable injuries occur as a result of medical negligence. Some patients experience multiple injuries and severe illnesses. In some cases, these injuries prove fatal.

Each medical malpractice case is unique. Each requires expert testimony to unravel what occurred, how harm resulted, and the extent of the patient’s damage. Talk to an experienced Southfield medical negligence lawyer to learn more about what’s involved in pursuing a medical malpractice claim.

Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases in Michigan

A medical malpractice claim commonly seeks two types of damages: economic and non-economic.

Economic damages are easily quantified and documented with bills, receipts, and other tangible evidence. This category of damages includes past and projected future medical expenses, lost wages, decreased earning capacity, the cost of paying caregivers, mileage costs for travel to and from doctor’s appointments, necessary home modifications, and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Non-economic damages compensate an injured person for less tangible losses. This category includes physical pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, trauma, and other types of distress. These damages profoundly impact an injured person’s quality of life and can be a substantial portion of a plaintiff’s recovery.

Michigan medical malpractice laws “cap,” or limit, non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims. You can recover the total amount of your economic damages, no matter how large, but your non-economic damages cannot exceed specific maximum amounts. (These are adjusted each year by the state Department of the Treasury.)

Michigan has two different caps for non-economic damages in medical negligence claims. The lower cap applies to non-economic damages in all Michigan medical malpractice cases unless they involve one of the following injuries:

• Hemiplegia, paraplegia, or quadriplegia, resulting in total permanent functional loss of one or more limbs due to brain or spinal cord injury.
• Impaired cognitive capacity that makes the patient incapable of making independent, reasonable life decisions or of independently performing daily living activities.
• Permanent loss or damage of a reproductive organ, leaving the patient unable to have children.

If medical malpractice claims a patient’s life, surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit to seek damages for their loved one’s losses. This type of lawsuit also allows them to seek damages for losing their loved one’s support, care, and companionship.

Reach Out to an Experienced Southfield Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you’ve been injured by medical malpractice, you may wonder how you’ll pay your added medical bills and recover from the harm you suffered. You may wonder how you can hold healthcare professionals accountable. You may struggle with serious injuries and fear returning to a doctor’s office, even though you still need help.

The experienced Southfield medical malpractice attorneys at Sommers Schwartz can help. There are limits on the amount of time you have to file a medical malpractice claim, so don’t wait. Contact us today to schedule a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation.