Medical Malpractice Frequently Asked Questions
Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas Accident / Injury Lawyers
Founded in 2002 by attorney Derek Potts, the Potts Law Firm has a winning combination of proven legal experience and energy. Let our medical malpractice lawyers put our legal experience and energy to work for you. For a free evaluation of your truck accident claim, contact us toll free at (800) 220-9341 or use our online contact form.
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the Potts Law Firm provides a free initial consultation to victims of hospital or doctor injuries in Kansas City, Missouri; Independence, Missouri; Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas; and Olathe, Kansas.
I have had a lot of unexpected complications since having a medical procedure. I can’t get a satisfactory answer from my doctor as to whether a medical error might have caused these complications. What can I do?
What are examples of physician errors that constitute medical malpractice?
Is liability for failure to diagnose a serious medical condition limited to patients and the doctor they regularly see?
Are preventable errors in hospitals a significant problem?
What are examples of emergency room errors that may support a malpractice claim?
I have had a lot of unexpected complications since having a medical procedure. I can’t get a satisfactory answer from my doctor as to whether a medical error might have caused these complications. What can I do?
If you suspect that you or a family member has been harmed by a physician error, you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney to discuss the situation. Frankly, a doctor or hospital is unlikely to admit that they committed an error that caused your problem. You will need to get an independent assessment. The Potts Law Firm provides a free initial consultation to evaluate your injury and whether you have legal grounds to file a lawsuit. If your doctor or health care provider failed to exercise the skill or care ordinarily provided by doctors following the recognized standard of care, then you may have grounds to file a claim.
What are examples of physician errors that constitute medical malpractice?
Examples of physician errors include diagnostic errors, failure to diagnose, errors in the performance of an operation or procedure, birth injuries, medication errors, surgical tools left inside a patient and inadequate monitoring or follow-up treatment. However, not every physician error constitutes medical malpractice. Doctors in Missouri and Kansas have a legal duty to follow the recognized standard of care in treating patients. When the physician fails to follow that standard of care and commits a physician error, then the doctor may be liable for malpractice. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can evaluate your situation and discuss with you whether it may have involved medical malpractice.
Is liability for failure to diagnose a serious medical condition limited to patients and the doctor they regularly see?
No, failure to diagnose can occur in a variety of settings involving an internist, a specialist such an oncologist, a hospital, an emergency room or a medical laboratory. A doctor may fail to order the proper diagnostic tests after a woman discovers a lump in her breast or a man complains of symptoms that may be heart disease. A hospital may mix up lab results and inform a patient they have cancer when they do not. An understaffed emergency room may fail to diagnose appendicitis, allowing a patient’s appendix to burst. Wherever it occurs, it is a preventable medical error.
Are preventable errors in hospitals a significant problem?
They are surprisingly widespread. In fact, a 2009 study by Healthgrades, a healthcare quality company, estimated that preventable hospital medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. In treating patients, hospitals are required to provide reasonable care and provide qualified personnel for the treatment of patients. Hospitals and medical centers that are thinly staffed or cut corners on nurses have higher rates of patient complications such as pneumonia, shock, cardiac arrest and urinary tract problems. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer at the Potts Law Firm can evaluate your injury and discuss with you whether a doctor, nurse or health care provider error gives you grounds to seek compensation for the harm that you have suffered.
What are examples of emergency room errors that may support a malpractice claim?
Lives sometimes depend on split second decisions by emergency room doctors and nurses. Yet, the emergency room care delivery systems in Missouri received only a mediocre grade of C on a national report card of emergency room care prepared by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Kansas received a C+. In this setting, serious medical errors are possible. Some common types of emergency room errors include misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, physician errors, medication efforts, inadequate staffing and lack of monitoring.
Trust An Experienced Kansas City Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you have been harmed by a preventable physician error or hospital error, the at-fault health care provider and their malpractice insurance provider should pay for your injuries, ongoing medical bills and other damages. You need an aggressive medical malpractice attorney to stand up for you.
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the Potts Law Firm provides a free initial consultation to victims of physician error in Kansas City (MO); Independence, (MO); Lee’s Summit (MO); Overland Park (KS); and Olathe (KS).
For a free evaluation of your malpractice injury and legal options, contact us toll free at (800) 220-9341 or use our online contact form.
