Medical Malpractice Attorneys

When you go to the doctor, you expect to get well, not get sicker or end up needing a second operation. Doctors can make mistakes, but sometimes those mistakes result from negligence and cost you financially and in physical and emotional pain and suffering. When a doctor or another medical professional errs because of his or her careless actions, you could recover damages for your losses.

Studies have shown that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated 98,000–440,000 deaths each year. Millions more are hurt by medical mistakes, and the Palmer Law Group, known for their expertise as a Manhattan, KS wrongful death attorney, specializes in helping people through these traumatic experiences. Kansas law permits injured or harmed patients and families to pursue justice against negligent doctors, hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers. Consult a medical malpractice attorney the Palmer Law Group if you, or someone you love, has been injured due to a medical error.

For over 30 years, the attorneys at the Palmer Law Group have been fighting for clients’ rights and to get justice for those who have been victims of medical malpractice. We provide a complete line of legal services for people who have been injured because of medical malpractice. Our award-winning team of Topeka malpractice lawyers are qualified to examine your potential claim, determine liability on the part of medical professionals and facilities, and work within the statute of limitations to help you and your family.

Don’t settle for less than you deserve based on an injury you sustained at the hands of a healthcare professional.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Represent

Medical malpractice cases can take many forms and manifest in a variety of injuries, damages, and pains. Most medical malpractice suits arise as a result of delayed or improper diagnoses of disease or illness. Other lawsuits may be filed due to inappropriate treatment or lack of professional protocol.

With more than 30 years of experience, our attorneys specialize in a wide range of medical malpractice suits and will represent you to the fullest in claims that include:

• Hospital negligence
• Birth injuries
• Anesthesia injuries
• Pharmaceutical injuries.

The thought of fighting a battle with an insurance company that represents a hospital is daunting, but the Palmer Law Group specializes in medical malpractice cases. By engaging our firm, you can focus on your all-important recovery while we take care of any legal battles that may arise. Palmer Law will defend you with representatives among the most effective and experienced in the state of Kansas, and we have won over $100 million in judgments for our clients.

Hard-Hitting Representation and Decades of Experience in Proving Malpractice

Medical Malpractice is an area of law that differs significantly from general personal injury claims, and it can be difficult to manage in Kansas courts. Valid claims of medical malpractice must involve clear-cut liability, which is often challenging to prove. Our tenacious medical malpractice lawyers are qualified to examine your potential claim, determine liability on the part of medical professionals and facilities, and work within the statute of limitations to help you win your case.

The bottom line is that you need an experienced, honest, and professional malpractice attorney to help you with your case. Call the Palmer Law Group for a free case evaluation for your possible malpractice claim. Our team of attorneys is committed to maintaining the highest standard of excellence and can represent you effectively in any personal injury case, including complex medical malpractice litigation. We offer free case evaluations, so you can speak to one of our attorneys on the phone prior to an in-person meeting to discuss the details and viability of your case. Palmer Law believes in your rights and in correcting the wrongs that were unjustly committed against you or your family.

Common Forms of Medical Malpractice

Negligence in the form of medical malpractice takes many forms, depending on the type of injuries you have. Some of the common types of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosing a condition
• Failing to diagnose a condition
• Incorrectly reading lab results
• Performing unnecessary surgery
• Performing surgery on the wrong area or wrong person
• Medication errors, including prescribing the wrong medication or giving the wrong dosage
• Giving a patient another patient’s medication
• Poor or no follow-up and/or aftercare
• Discharging a patient too early
• Improper or non-existent patient history
• Failure to order the proper tests
• Failure to recognize symptoms
• Failure to take emergency actions, such as an emergency C-section, immediately
• Failure to provide informed consent
• Leaving medical debris in a surgical wound.

Recovering Damages After a Medical Malpractice Incident

If you suffered additional pain and suffering due to negligence after being treated by a medical professional, you could recover damages in the form of economic damages and non-economic damages. A medical professional might be negligent for many reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• Fatigue
• Drinking or taking drugs while on the job or just before the medical professional’s shift
• No supervision for inexperienced medical professionals
• Ignoring a patient’s complaints
• Ignoring a patient’s medical history.

If you can show the medical professional’s actions and/or inactions were negligent, you could recover compensation. While the money doesn’t remove the pain or bring a loved one back, the money significantly reduces the financial stress of being out of work.

How to Prove Negligence

To prove negligence, you must meet four elements. An experienced Topeka medical malpractice lawyer will review your case to determine if a medical professional’s negligence caused your extra injuries, pain, and suffering.

Doctors and other medical professionals are held to a higher duty of care because of their experience and extensive schooling. The elements of negligence include:

• Medical professionals have a duty of care to keep their patients from harm.
• The medical professional breached the duty of care.
• You suffered damages because of the medical professional’s breach.
• The damages caused you to suffer financially.

Most people recover compensation in the form of economic damages. Some others might recover non-economic damages. However, most that recover non-economic damages must have lost a loved one or suffered catastrophic injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, and cannot work for the rest of their lives. Once your attorney determines that a medical professional was negligent, she can work on determining what constitutes a fair and reasonable settlement. In such cases, consulting a traumatic brain injury attorney in Topeka is crucial for navigating the complexities of these claims.

Economic Damages

Sometimes referred to as special damages, economic damages have a monetary value. Most victims of medical malpractice can recover economic damages, including:

• Medical expenses, including doctors’ appointments, surgeries, follow-up appointments, prescriptions and prescribed over-the-counter drugs, medical equipment, and ambulatory aids.
• Therapeutic expenses, including physical therapy, psychological therapy, occupational therapy, and cognitive therapy.
• Accessibility items, including hand controls and wheelchair ramps or lifts for vehicles, wheelchair ramps, widened doorways, grab bars, handrails, and other accessibility items for the house.
• Lost wages and loss of future earning capacity. Even if you are able to return to work part-time or full-time, but at a lower-paying occupation or job, you could recover loss of partial future earning capacity.
• Death-related expenses, including funeral and burial expenses, cremation expenses, and probate attorney’s fees and costs. If you handle the probate case without an attorney, which is not advisable, you could recover attorneys’ fees and cast.

Non-Economic Damages

Sometimes referred to as general damages, non-economic damages do not have a monetary value. Not all medical malpractice victims can recover non-economic damages. In most cases, only those whose injuries caused long-term or permanent disabilities and those who lost a loved one due to a medical malpractice case recover non-economic damages, including:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress
• Loss of quality of life if you have to make lifelong changes such as taking prescriptions or using ambulatory aids
• Loss of companionship and/or consortium
• Inconvenience if you have to hire someone to do the chores you usually do, including but not limited to house cleaning, grocery shopping, home repair and maintenance, and lawn maintenance
• Excessive scarring and/or disfigurement
• Amputation of a digit or limb (the wrong one or needless amputation)
• Loss of use of a body part or bodily function.

Punitive Damages

Kansas allows punitive damages if you can prove that the medical professional’s actions or inactions were grossly negligent or intentional. You can only recover punitive damages if the court awards compensatory damages. Additionally, the court does not order punitive damages to make you financially whole. Instead, it orders the defendant to pay them as a punishment for the defendant’s behavior in the hopes that the gross negligence will not be repeated.

Contact Palmer Law Group, LLP

Medical malpractice is a complex area of law, one that requires an experienced group of attorneys to litigate successfully. If you are looking for Topeka’s most trustworthy medical malpractice law firm, consider Palmer Law Group, LLP.