You work hard and do your best to make ends meet. Like many others in Chicago and throughout the United States, the recent economic crisis and changes in the health care system may have hit you hard. The last you thing you need on top of all that is to suffer injury or illness because a surgeon botched your operation.
If you are wondering what can be done to seek justice in the aftermath of a medical error, you are not alone. Each year, thousands of surgical mistakes are made in hospitals across the nation.
What happened to you may have happened to others, too
You might be alarmed by the increasingly high numbers of medical patients like yourself who have been severely injured or suffered serious infections because of substandard medical care. Some of the most frequently reported surgical errors include:
- Wrong operation: Would you believe that approximately 20 times each week, surgeons perform the wrong procedures on patients?
- Foreign objects: The number of incidents of surgeons mistakenly leaving foreign objects such as sponges or surgical gauzes inside the bodies of patients is astounding. This often leads to serious infections.
- Right procedure, wrong body part: Otherwise known as, “wrong-site surgeries,” you or someone you know may have undergone an operation only to awaken from anesthesia to learn the surgeon operated on the wrong part of the body!
These are just a few of the top listed surgical mistakes made over and over again, every single year at hospitals in Chicago, as well as many other states. If you are reading this because you yourself were injured by a surgeon’s negligence or you have suffered the devastating and untimely loss of an immediate family member for the same reason, there are several things you can do to pursue justice.
Reaching out for support
There is absolutely no reason you should be the one to bear the costs associated with a medical injury. It’s no secret that the type of care needed to recover from something like this is very expensive.
Why should you face additional medical bills, lose time from work or have to pay for physical therapy when the injuries you or your loved one suffered were likely preventable? Taking the following steps can help you gain restitution:
- Discuss the situation with someone who understands medical malpractice law: This is often a first logical step in the right direction to obtain swift and full recovery for your losses.
- Explore legal options: There might be several ways to approach your particular situation. By seeking guidance from an experienced attorney, you can make informed decisions in a proactive manner to determine how best to proceed in holding accountable those deemed responsible for your suffering.
- File a medical malpractice claim in a civil court: In recent years, studies have shown there are approximately $1.3 billion in medical malpractice payouts for over 4,000 preventable surgical errors per year. You are able to file a similar claim if you have suffered injury or have lost a loved one because a doctor or other staff member was negligent.
There is obviously no way to replace the loss of a human life, but you may find it helpful to seek compensation for the damages you have sustained through the unexpected death of your family member.
If you have survived your own medical injuries, a successful claim can provide monies to help you offset the costs associated with the incident. By reaching out to someone who has gone to bat for others in similar situations in the past, you can move toward achieving a full recovery and peace of mind knowing you did everything you could to see that justice was served.