Medical errors can cause serious injury or death. These errors, when they result from negligence, fall under an area of Michigan law known as medical malpractice.
A growing number of patients are losing their lives in situations where medical staff promised to put patient care first, but failed to do so. Because many cases of medical negligence require enough mitigating evidence to fight for compensation, you will need an experienced Grand Rapids medical malpractice attorney to help hold the medical professional or their facility accountable.
As an established practice with many years serving the good folks of Grand Rapids and surrounding cities, Michigan Injury Lawyers dedicates time and resources to help injured people get the compensation they deserve.
If you need immediate help with your medical malpractice claim, call our firm. We will schedule a consultation at no cost to you.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Based on negligence laws, medical malpractice occurs when medical professionals depart from normal standards established in their field of practice and, as a result, cause an injury or death to the patient they promised they would comport themselves with equanimity over.
When health care experts fail to show an unbiased, coherent and proficient degree of skill when administering medical care to patients, negligence may be the end result of that failure. It can even lead to wrongful death if the severity of the accident goes beyond repair.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice in Grand Rapids
Patients who’ve been seriously injured may have sustained those injuries from the following types of medical malpractice:
- Delayed diagnosis. A doctor’s initial diagnosis may be incorrect, which gives the actual condition of the patient time to worsen. Although doctors may later correct their initial diagnosis, oftentimes it’s too late.
- Misdiagnosis. A more common incident in medical malpractice cases, doctors may fail to correctly diagnose their patient. As having the wrong diagnoses could cause patients to ultimately lose their lives, claims of misdiagnosis will hold water provided there’s proof the medical professional deviated from the standard of care normal professionals would offer under similar circumstances.
- Birthing injury. From obstetricians refusing to administer adequate prenatal care, to unneeded injuries caused during delivery, birthing injuries can harm the baby, mother or terminate both lives during the process.
- Surgical errors. While not all surgery-related errors qualify as negligence, those where too much or too little anesthesia was administered, the wrong part of the body was operated on, or surgical tools were left inside the person do qualify if done recklessly or in violation of reasonable medical standards.
How Do I Know If I Have a Case?
Suffering medical injuries isn’t enough to bring malpractice claims to an attorney—not all of them rise to the level of medical malpractice. To clarify, your injuries may qualify you for compensation if:
- Your injuries occurred as a direct result of the negligent party’s actions;
- That professional or facility breached their duty to provide care in a manner that any reasonable professional would with the same patient and identical circumstances;
- You sustained injuries as a direct result of that breach; and
- You merit compensation based on losses you sustained during and after the incident.
A good amount of proof is required in each step to satisfy the basic requirements under Michigan tort law. Your Grand Rapids medical negligence attorney will look for evidence and see if it proves the four requirements above.
Damages Available in Medical Malpractice Cases in Grand Rapids
The goal of assigning damages in medical malpractice cases is not only to compensate the victim for injuries they sustained, but to monetarily punish the wrongdoer for causing the incident. Here are the damages available in medical negligence cases:
- Economic losses. These are calculable losses that happen when the negligent doctor or medical professional caused an injury. They could include bills for medical procedures necessary to correct the error, wages which the patient lost and may lose in the future, expenses related to transporting you to another facility, and so forth.
- Noneconomic losses. Pain and suffering are most commonly associated with noneconomic damages.
- Punitive damages. This is a financial “punishment” that the negligent party pays for their role in your injury. Your attorney may or may not pursue these as they usually do not impact what compensation you receive.
Michigan imposes a limit on financial damages one can receive, which is found in Subsection 1 of Section 1483 of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961 (M.C.L. Section 600.1483),
Michigan Injury Lawyers have nevertheless recovered millions of dollars in personal injury cases, and will do what it takes to earn your trust.
Our Medical Malpractice Law Firm Wants to Help
The law holds medical professionals, especially those who label themselves specialists, to the highest standard of medical excellence, and therefore must conduct themselves professionally in all matters of public health. Patients who entrust their lives to doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, and medical facilities have the right to feel safe.
Michigan Injury Lawyers has built a solid reputation for its excellence in representing injured people from around Michigan. Medical malpractice is serious enough that it not only causes injury and paralysis, but could lead to death. When so much is riding on your malpractice claim, you can trust us to handle everything from investigation and medical report subpoenaing to hiring expert witnesses, as necessary or appropriate in your case.
To get started on your medical malpractice claim in Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas, contact us today by phone to schedule your free, confidential case evaluation with an experienced attorney from our firm. If we take your case, we charge nothing until we secure your settlement.
You can reach us at (616) 558-3970 or through our contact page.