Were you harmed due to a medical mistake in Aurora, IL? Victims of medical malpractice often endure significant and lasting hardships. An experienced Aurora medical malpractice lawyer at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys can help you fight for the compensation you deserve. You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, and more.
Our lawyers have decades of experience handling complicated medical negligence claims. That means we know how to prepare your case for success. In fact, we’ve already recovered tens of millions of dollars for our injured clients over the years.
Don’t let doctors and their defense lawyers downplay your losses. Contact our law offices in Aurora, Illinois, at (630) 348-9513 to schedule a free consultation today.
How Can Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Help if I Was a Victim of Medical Malpractice in Aurora, IL
You trust your doctor when you need medical attention. If you’re like most people, you don’t have another option–and you have no control over your doctor’s actions. When a doctor or nurse makes a mistake, you can confront the repercussions.
That’s not a fair result–and the law allows you to seek compensation from the responsible parties. Unfortunately, medical malpractice laws are complex. They also tend to favor doctors and insurance companies. Hiring an experienced Aurora personal injury lawyer is the best way to get justice.
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, our lawyers have been recognized by Super Lawyers and earned a place on the Million-Dollar Advocates Forum.
Hiring us gives you an advocate to:
- Review your medical records and locate evidence to prove your doctor made a mistake
- Hire medical experts to build the strongest claim possible
- Assess the value of your injury claim
- Negotiate with the insurance companies for a full settlement
- Fight for you in court if necessary
With a strong Aurora personal injury attorney in your corner, you greatly increase your chances of success. Contact our law firm today to schedule your free consultation.
Medical Malpractice Is a Serious Problem in the U.S.
Medical errors happen far too often. One widely-cited study prepared by Johns Hopkins Medical Center found that medical negligence may be the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. Over 250,000 patients die because of problems caused by medical negligence each year.
Medical malpractice is also incredibly expensive for patients. In Illinois alone, insurance companies paid more than $148 million in compensation to victims of medical malpractice in 2022.
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we have the skills to handle even the most complex medical malpractice claims, including those involving:
- Surgical errors
- Emergency room errors
- Medication errors involving prescription drugs
- Pharmacy errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Nursing negligence
- Hospital negligence
- Birth injuries
- Radiology errors and lab mix-ups
- Failure to diagnose cancer and other diseases
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Defective medical devices
It’s never too early to explore your legal options. If you’re struggling due to a doctor’s mistake, contact our law firm in Aurora for a free case review today.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a failure to provide competent medical care. Every medical professional has a duty to provide a certain level of care. When they deviate from the accepted standard of care, they can be held liable if patients are harmed because of it.
In the most simple terms, medical malpractice occurs when your doctor did something they weren’t supposed to do. It can also occur when they fail to do something that they were supposed to do.
If a reasonable doctor would have acted differently under the circumstances, you may have a valid lawsuit if you were harmed.
How Do I Prove I Was a Victim of Medical Malpractice in Illinois?
Proving medical negligence is rarely simple.
You must establish several elements for your medical negligence claim to succeed, including:
- You were a patient, so the healthcare professional owed you a legal duty of care
- The medical standard of care that applied in your case
- A breach of duty, meaning that the doctor failed to adhere to the standard of care
- The harm you suffered was directly caused by the doctor’s mistake
- Damages, or the specific losses you suffered
The fact is, it isn’t always easy to tell whether your doctor did something they shouldn’t have. Proving liability for medical negligence is far more complicated than your typical car accident case–because the law is designed to protect doctors who provide competent care.
Expert testimony is required to proceed with your medical malpractice claim under Illinois medical malpractice laws. That’s just one reason why it’s important to consult an experienced lawyer. Our Aurora medical malpractice attorneys have relationships with experts who can testify about what happened–and what should have happened. With their help, we’ll prepare the affidavits required by law.
Why Is Medical Malpractice So Common in Aurora, Illinois?
Medical malpractice can happen under many different circumstances.
For example, medical negligence claims often involve:
- Misdiagnosis
- Misinterpreting lab results
- Failure to recognize a patient’s symptoms
- Failure to order the correct diagnostic tests
- Failure to take a full patient history
- Inexperienced healthcare professionals
- Mistaken patient identity
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Leaving a foreign object in a patient’s body
- Failure to recognize adverse drug interactions
- Communication and charting errors
- Failure to obtain a patient’s informed consent
- Failure to properly monitor a patient before, during, or after a procedure
- Releasing a patient without providing proper post-operative instructions
- Failure to refer a patient to a specialist
Medical errors often happen because doctors and hospital staff are overworked and exhausted. While physician burnout is a serious problem, it doesn’t justify negligent treatment. If you suspect you were harmed by a doctor’s mistake, contact us today to learn more about your legal options.
What Is My Aurora Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
The value of any personal injury claim will be based on unique factors. Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers in Aurora will evaluate those factors during your free case evaluation.
Generally speaking, you can expect the following factors to influence your case value:
- The severity of the harm you have suffered
- The nature of the doctor or medical provider’s mistake
- The cost of your past medical treatment and your need for future medical care
- The value of your lost wages during recovery
- Whether you will return to work in the same capacity
- How the mistake will impact your future quality of life, life expectancy, and mental health
Putting a dollar value on your health is never easy. However, you should expect doctors, hospitals, and their insurance companies to go to great lengths to avoid accepting full responsibility for medical errors.
Our lawyers have been serving Aurora for decades. We know how to build a strong case that forces them to take you seriously. Contact Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys today to schedule a free case review to learn more.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Negligence in Aurora?
Like personal injury laws, medical malpractice laws allow victims to seek compensation for economic and non-economic losses, including:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning potential
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Counseling
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Depression
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
- Disfigurement
- Scarring
- Loss of consortium
It’s important to identify the unique losses you have suffered. That way, you can rest assured that you’re getting a fair settlement that accounts for all of the past and future damage caused by the medical error.
Medical Mistakes Cause Severe and Lasting Damage to Patients
Patients are always left to bear the damage caused by negligent healthcare professionals.
Some of the most common consequences of medical negligence include:
- A worsened underlying condition
- Development of new medical problems
- Corrective surgeries
- Infections
- Bed sores
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Chronic pain
- Brain damage
- Catastrophic injuries
- Wrongful death of a loved one
Damage to your physical health can also damage your mental wellbeing. You deserve to be compensated for damage to your emotional health, as well. Our lawyers in Aurora will work closely with you to understand how the mistake changed your life.
How Long Do I Have To File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After a Medical Error in Illinois?
You have two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Illinois.
However, Illinois law does give victims some flexibility. The statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases starts to run on the date you knew, or reasonably should have known, about the harm you have suffered. However, a “statute of repose” also applies. You cannot file a claim for damages more than four years after the date the malpractice occurred.
If you aren’t sure about the deadline for filing a lawsuit, contact an experienced lawyer. Our legal team at Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys can help you preserve your right to seek compensation.
Schedule a Free Initial Consultation With a Trusted Aurora Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Medical errors have the potential to change your life forever. When your doctor makes an unacceptable mistake, you deserve to be compensated. To learn more about your legal rights, call Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys at (630) 348-9513 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Aurora medical malpractice lawyer.
