Medical Malpractice occurs when negligence by a medical practitioner, such as a doctor or nurse, results in injury and death. Because medical negligence can be a long, expensive process it is important to thoroughly evaluate potential cases.

To determine whether there is negligence for a given case, lawyers look for standard of care violations. Standard of care is a guideline of what a reasonable medical practitioner would do in the same situation. For example, it is standard of care to order a chest x-ray for a patient with symptoms pointing to lung cancer. If a physician chose not to order a chest x-ray then he/she deviated from the standard of care. When a violation of the standard of care results in injury to the patient then there is medical malpractice.

The level of injury for any given case is used to determine damages. Damages are the monetary value of a case which relies on several factors, including the cost of past and future treatment, past and future lost wages, and pain and suffering, all as a result of the negligence. As is often the case, a loved one has died because of medical malpractice. The damages that are attributed to loss of life are incalculable, but enormous.

However, damages cannot be collected if the patient was unharmed by the medical practitioner's error. For example, a surgeon performs an operation for what he believes is appendicitis only to discover during the procedure that the patient's stomach pain was actually due to a perforated ulcer. If the patient would have needed the same surgery for the ulcer then the misdiagnosis of the stomach pain doesn't amount to a viable lawsuit. Without damages there is no basis for a medical malpractice claim.

Medical malpractice is a lengthy process requiring collection of copious amounts of medical records, extensive research, and review by medical experts. Because of the length of time required and the high associated costs, filing suit is not always in your best interest. Sometimes the costs of litigating a medical malpractice case exceed the potential damages.

Common areas of medical malpractice include:

• Birth Injury, including Erb's Palsy and shoulder dystocia;
• Brain Injury, including Cerebral Palsy;
• Wrong Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis;
• Nursing Home Abuse;
• Pharmaceutical;
• Anesthesiology Mistakes; and
• Radiology Errors.

Kreisman Law Offices has successfully been handling catastrophic medical malpractice cases for over 30 years. If you believe that you have a case please contact our Chicago law offices at (312) 346-0045 or (800) 583-8002 for an immediate free consultation, or fill out a contact form. We are committed to seeking justice for you and your loved ones and giving you the best representation.