Champaign Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice errors are the third leading cause of death in America, and they affect more than just those who have been directly injured. Statistics reveal that for every patient who dies due to a medical procedure error, seven others suffer an injury from it.

Have you or a loved one suffered a personal injury due to medical malpractice? At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC, our personal injury attorneys successfully represent many people just like you to get the compensation they deserve for their injuries.

Our Champaign personal injury attorneys will fight aggressively for your rights and make sure your voice is heard. Contact us at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation.

Champaign and Urbana Home to Young Population

Ever since its founding, the Central Illinois city has been closely linked with Urbana. Both cities are commonly considered the same due to their proximity and reliance on the other. Champaign-Urbana is home to the University of Illinois and thousands of college students and professors.

As a result, the median age in the area is only 25.7 years. In addition, the medical needs of both Champaign-Urbana and nearby cities are provided by two hospitals located in Urbana.

Medical Malpractice Injuries and Deaths

The devastation caused by medical mistakes is life-changing for the victims involved. In many cases, the victim suffers physical injury, emotional damage, and loss of wages that lead to distress from their personal injury caused by medical malpractice.

A National Council on Aging published study revealed that over 400,000 Americans die every year from medical malpractice errors that could have been prevented. That's like losing an entire city the size of Orlando, Florida, each year.

While some cases involving medical malpractice are catastrophic, like when the doctor amputates the wrong foot, the not-so-apparent problems hurt the most victims. Unfortunately, these unpublished incidents have given rise to hundreds of thousands of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Surgical errors, medication mistakes, diagnostic errors, bedsores, all of these are just some of the ways that patients can be hurt due to medical malpractice. Others include birth injuries and wrong-site surgeries. Unfortunately, even nurses have been known to commit medical malpractice that causes patients harm.

Call our law firm and talk to our attorneys if you have suffered an Illinois medical malpractice injury.

Surgical Malpractice

In some cases, the surgeon's medical malpractice can result in the death of the patient. However, patients can find themselves paralyzed or with a lifetime of chronic pain from medical malpractice in more serious cases. Reach out to our attorney for legal assistance.

Some examples of surgical medical malpractice failure include:

• Accidentally nicking a vital vein or artery during surgery
• Operating on the wrong area or leg
• Leaving foreign objects inside the patient
• Slicing into another organ during surgery

These are just some of the things that can go wrong. Of course, the surgeon's work should be precise and never result in personal injury.

In such a situation, an Illinois medical malpractice attorney in that practice area can come in handy. Contact our law firm in Champaign-Urbana to hire our recognized Illinois medical malpractice lawyers with a top-notch reputation to answer your burning legal questions.

Hospital Malpractice

Most operations are performed in outpatient clinics and not inside a hospital setting. However, when patients remain in the hospital, they require a higher level of medical expertise typically.

Unfortunately, hospital medical malpractice is a serious problem where doctors, nurses, and other health care providers display medical malpractice that causes injury such as:

• Anesthesia mistakes can cause severe damage, even death.
• Nurses falling asleep on the job or engaging in drug abuse while caring for patients can result in deadly medical malpractice, which calls for a lawyer's course of action. Speak to our lawyers if nursing malpractice harmed your immediate family members.
• Administrators failing to monitor patients under their care or follow protocol has resulted in numerous deaths and injuries to innocent patients, including issues like bedsores, infections, and medication errors.
• Doctors prescribing the wrong medications or dosage can be life-threatening, ending up in medical malpractice.

Many plaintiffs become victims of hospital medical malpractice when the nursing staff fails to follow infection control protocols, spreading bacteria and viruses throughout the facility, which has caused numerous hospital-acquired infections that can cause serious illness and sometimes death.

Medical malpractice is not limited to hospitals in the US. Reports indicate this same malpractice is happening worldwide, giving rise to international medical malpractice lawsuits.

Nursing Malpractice

Although the nursing staff must provide utmost care at different levels, from registered nurses to nursing aides, nursing malpractice is a serious problem in doctor's offices, hospitals, medical centers, and other caregiving environments like assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

According to the American Nurses Association, over one million nurses are assaulted by patients and their family members each year. Unfortunately, this is just one example of how some nurses fail to take responsibility for their actions and commit medical malpractice that harms others.

There have also been reports of:

• Nurses do not follow infection control protocols like maintaining the sterility of equipment and hospital rooms, washing hands, properly disposing of medical waste, etc. This carelessness has led to numerous infections that could have been prevented
• Nurses failing to maintain accurate record keeping and billing for services never rendered or changing a patient's chart when it should have remained untouched
• Nurses who are not properly trained in CPR failing to assist when it is most needed can lead to medical malpractice

Misdiagnosis & Failure to Diagnose

Licensed doctors and other medical professionals are expected to diagnose the problem correctly. Sometimes, they will offer a second opinion or refer their clients to another specialist for further evaluation.

In these cases, failure to diagnose a patient properly in the first place can be considered medical malpractice warranting the intervention of an Illinois lawyer. Some examples of failure to properly diagnose that happen in medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosing a patient with a condition when they have multiple conditions that need to be treated separately
• Diagnosing the wrong disease altogether
• Missing an injury or accident led to further complications because it was not properly diagnosed at the time of the incident, including any number of accidents, including car accidents, workplace accidents, etc.
• Failure to diagnose the presence of cancer at an early stage when it would be easier to treat can also amount to medical malpractice that should draw the attention of your Illinois lawyer

Medication Errors and Prescriptions

According to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine, about 1 in 7 hospitalized patients suffered from a medication error. Some medical malpractice errors included the wrong dose of the right drug or administering drugs via the incorrect route. Such incidents require the intervention of an Illinois lawyer to offer the victims legal help.

In Chicago alone, medication errors led to at least one death every month from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, a local hospital paid $2 million to settle claims from two patients who were each given the wrong medication.

• In one case, a doctor ordered a patient to receive a Phenergan injection, which is used for postoperative pain control. However, she received Ephedrine (a stimulant) instead due to an administration error, resulting in medical malpractice. Cases like these should be referred to an Illinois lawyer.
• Ephedrine is not safe for some patients who are more sensitive to its effects. It can cause an increased risk of seizures, stroke, heart attack, and even death. The doctor identified this error after the patient had suffered tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), nausea, vomiting, tremor, dizziness, shortness of breath, and other symptoms.

• In another case, Gail Nickerson sued a hospital after a nurse gave her the wrong medication. As a result, she suffered from orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure decreases upon standing), renal failure, dehydration, malignant hypertension (extremely high blood pressure), and an electrolyte imbalance, which required her to be hospitalized for several weeks.
• Gail Nickerson was given the drug Demerol instead of Morphine which caused most of the problems she experienced. An anesthesia expert testified that if Gail had received Morphine, these complications would not have occurred. She eventually died from cardiac arrest after being admitted into a rehab facility.

Did you or a close family member suffer a personal injury in a nursing home or a medical facility due to defective products in Champaign, IL, or nearby cities? Our medical malpractice lawyer can offer you a free consultation to resolve your legal issue. Contact our law firm today, and our medical malpractice attorney will accord legal advice.

Nursing Home Medical Malpractice

Most medical malpractice cases in the United States involve improper treatment in nursing facilities where a health care provider (Physicians and nurses) failed to monitor the patient, leading to nursing home neglect adequately.

Our Illinois medical malpractice lawyers have recovered millions on behalf of our clients when injured by a defective product, harmful medications, abusive behavior, life-threatening bedsores, or another personal injury. Contact our Illinois law firm for a free consultation.

Holding a Doctor Accountable for Medical Malpractice

The law holds doctors and nursing professionals to a high standard, ensuring that they perform their jobs with the utmost skill and care.

If they fail to meet this standard, either through an honest mistake or negligence, then our lawyers can hold them accountable for the harm they cause to their patients. Did you sustain a personal injury due to a medical mistake? Then, call today for a free consultation from a local medical malpractice lawyer at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC.

Our law firm lawyers hold doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical centers, and nursing homes accountable under medical malpractice law to ensure our clients receive maximum compensation.

Our Champaign injury lawyers have helped many people in the past who have been victimized by medical malpractice and other related practice areas and would be happy to do the same for you.

Initiating a Champaign Personal Injury Case with Medical Malpractice Lawyers

The Champaign, IL medical malpractice lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have extensive expertise in cases similar to yours. As a result, our lawyers have collected compensation on behalf of thousands of clients.

One of the keys to our success is our lawyers' understanding of the medical malpractice law and knowledge of what factors influence negligence and using patterns to establish a history of negligent actions. In addition, our Champaign IL law office lawyers have provided information regarding area hospitals so that you are aware of the concerns and issues for each facility.

Your attorney can investigate what happened, review your medical records, gather testimony from all parties involved, and work to get the compensation you need for your suffering.

How Much Does a Champaign Medical Malpractice Lawyer Cost?

Unfortunately, malpractice cases can be prohibitively expensive for most people because of the high cost of hiring a medical malpractice lawyer. Most personal injury attorneys will require a fee payment known as a retainer before the medical malpractice attorney will take your case.

This fee is put toward the time and services that the medical malpractice attorney and his staff members provide on your behalf and covers costs such as filing fees, copying charges, postage, and expert witness consultation. After this payment is made, you may still be responsible for paying additional retainers or payments to your lawyer, depending on how your case progresses.

Contact the Champaign, IL, medical malpractice injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC for a free review of your legal rights and legal options. Our law firm is committed and ready to represent you and your family in court.

Compensation Commonly Sought in Medical Malpractice Cases

If you are considering a lawsuit against your doctor or hospital following a medical error or injury suffered during an operative procedure, you may be wondering how these cases are valued and what forms of compensation you may be entitled to receive.

Our central Illinois medical malpractice injury attorneys assess the value of each case by evaluating the costs you have already incurred as well as the potential financial impact of your injuries in the future.

The forms of compensation we might pursue in your medical malpractice claim include the following:

• The current cost of your medical treatment, including emergency medical care and operative procedures: If your injuries were severe, they likely resulted in the need for emergency care or immediate revision surgery. These procedures can be expensive, and you should not carry the burden when someone else's actions resulted in the need for these procedures. Consult our Champaign IL medical malpractice attorney to determine your review process.
• Anticipated future costs: Your doctor might recommend ongoing treatment for an extended time. Our medical malpractice lawyer will assess the value of your rehabilitative therapy and other long-term treatment costs when determining the total value of damages.
• Lost wages: Your financial burden becomes much more substantial when attempting to recover from an injury while unable to return to work. In addition, as your medical bills mount each day, you cannot return to work, which adds more worry and uncertainty to your financial future. Fortunately, you may recover the value of your wages during your time off if your medical malpractice lawyer proves that your injuries prevented you from returning to work.
• A dramatic lifestyle change: If your injuries are permanent or require extensive treatment for an extended period, you may be entitled to compensation to provide ongoing care for your condition.
• Treatment of birth injuries:  If negligence during labor and delivery results in injuries that affect your child's development and ability to live a healthy life, you are entitled to compensation for your child's care throughout their lifetime. Consult our Champaign IL medical malpractice lawyer to commence the crucial review process.
• Pain and suffering: The value placed on your pain and suffering will reflect your injuries' impact on your quality of life and the pain endured throughout your recovery.

Medical professionals' mistakes and errors might result from medical negligence, leading to severe injury or wrongful death. Please do not take chances. Contact our medical malpractice lawyers to guarantee your legal rights.

Grading Champaign-Urbana's Hospitals

Our Champaign IL medical malpractice lawyers have compiled data from surveys and government reports highlighting where each of the hospitals in your area could reform policies and procedures to improve their quality of care.

Our attorneys resolve cases using medical malpractice law and have won litigation negotiation(s) worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for their clients and can do the same for your Champaign IL nursing home litigation.

Presence Covenant Medical Center
1400 West Park Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
217-337-2000

Presence Covenant Medical Center has received designations as a level two perinatal center and pediatric emergency department. This facility has abnormally high mortality rates for patients treated for pneumonia and congestive heart failure.

A correlated link exists between readmission and mortality, as is exhibited by 17.5% of pneumonia patients were readmitted within thirty days of discharge, and 14.9% of pneumonia patients died within that same timeframe. About 22.7% of congestive heart failure patients are readmitted within thirty days, and 15.8% do not survive.

The mortality rates for both conditions at this facility are higher than both state and national averages. Early discharge is often driven by a combination of hospital overcrowding and the influence of insurance companies on hospital policy.

Extended stays cost more, so insurance companies push to have patients released. Unfortunately, most patients who are released too early and are readmitted have a low survival rate, highlighting the need to reevaluate the criteria for discharge.

Only 65% of patients surveyed agreed that their beds, bathrooms, and general living areas were kept in clean and sanitary conditions linked to preventing the spread of infection. It is simply unacceptable to neglect sanitation issues, and this facility scored well below the state average in this area.

Finally, only 54% of patients understood their treatment and needed to continue their care at home. Failure to educate patients on their health conditions and treatments can result in increased readmission rates.

Carle Foundation Hospital
611 West Park Street
Urbana, IL 61801
217-383-3311

Illinois designated Carle Foundation Hospital as a level one trauma unit and level three perinatal facility equipped to provide emergency pediatric care. Although 79% of patients surveyed stated that they would recommend this facility to their family and friends, other data presents some serious concerns.

Patients diagnosed with stroke or congestive heart failure experience alarming mortality rates at this facility.

The risk-adjusted rate of deaths in Illinois due to stroke is 70.96 out of every 1,000 patients compared to the Carle Foundation Hospital's rate of 113.54 out of 1,000. Additionally, Illinois' risk-adjusted rate of congestive heart failure deaths is 24.78 out of 1,000 compared to the Carle Foundation 40.41 out of 1,000.

In addition to concerning data regarding strokes and congestive heart failure, there is an odd number of incidents involving obstetric trauma during birth.

The rate of trauma during instrument-assisted deliveries is:

• 210.53 out of every 1,000 compared to the state average of 131.45 out of 1,000
• Non-assisted births result in 26.97 instances of trauma out of every 1,000 compared to the state average of 17.36 out of 1,000
• Instrument-assisted deliveries at this facility result in injury to 21% of the mothers giving birth—which is far too many

Were you or a close relative involved in an automobile accident in Champaign County? If so, our attorneys can explore legal options to help you. Call our law firm or peruse through our website to view attorney profiles.

Launch an Investigation into a Champaign Medical Malpractice Case for Free

Are you unsure of whether you have a claim for injuries that you suffered during a medical procedure or as the result of poor care in Champaign, IL?

If so, fill in a contact form on our website or email Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC now to speak with a Champaign, IL medical malpractice injury attorney for free regarding your case.

Our Champaign attorneys will be happy to answer your questions, review the details of your case, and provide legal advice so that our attorneys can begin their investigation into the matter. Once our attorneys have evaluated your case, we will go over your legal alternatives with you to make the most informed decision on how to proceed.

Our Champaign IL attorneys will only collect payment when they secure damages on your behalf - and if they cannot win your case or negotiate a settlement, our services will be free of charge.

Contact us for more information on effective strategies our Champaign IL attorneys use in medical malpractice cases and detailed law firm profiles.

Resources:

• CNBC – Most Doctors Don't Want You to Know
• What is medical malpractice?