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Doctors’ appointments are a consistent part of your life. When you visit a doctor, though, you want to know that they are willing to take any concerns you have about your body seriously. When you pursue surgery or other treatments, these professionals need to treat you with the utmost care.
Despite all precautions, there are still medical professionals – doctors and nurses alike – who occasionally engage in medical malpractice. Whether it is through negligence or a deliberate desire to cause harm, these individuals can make it much harder for you to live a healthy life. However, if their negligence caused you compensable harm, you can take legal action against them. Schedule a consultation with a Cook County medical malpractice lawyer and you can learn more about the compensation that you might win in civil case. The process can be made easier with assistance from a seasoned personal injury attorney.
To begin a medical malpractice suit in Illinois, all interested parties must submit a complaint to their local court. This complaint needs to include the ways in which the target violated their duty of care and how that violation contributed to the documented losses.
What is more, these complaints must include an affidavit of merit. The details of the required affidavit are outlined by 735 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/2-622. This affidavit notes that in order to prove the alleged medical malpractice, the Cook County medical negligence lawyer consulted with a third-party medical professional who meets state requirements. The affidavit, written by this third party, must establish the cause that is driving the case in question.
Interested parties can file their affidavits up to 90 days after sending off their initial complaints. Without sending such an affidavit forward, however, courts reserve the right to dismiss medical malpractice cases outright.
Medical malpractice can take two forms: deliberate harm and harm that is the result of negligence. Bedsores, for example, can serve as evidence of negligent medical malpractice. To submit a medical malpractice complaint, a malpractice lawsuit attorney in Cook County must prove either deliberate harm or negligence. The aforementioned affidavit can elaborate on what deliberate harm might have occurred. To argue negligence, however, interested parties must indicate both a duty of care, a violation of said duty, and correlations between that violation and a person’s damages.
Up until 2010, the state of Illinois placed a cap on the amount of money that a person could take away from a medical malpractice suit. This cap initially limited non-economic damages to $500,000 and suit damage to $1 million. The case of LeBron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital removed this cap, meaning that interested parties may pursue as much compensation as is appropriate to their case.
Medical professionals should treat, diagnose, and operate on you according to the highest standards. Unfortunately, there can be occasions on which a professional not only neglects your well-being but actively makes a dangerous choice that goes against medical standards.
If you believe that you or a loved one have suffered compensable losses as a result of medical malpractice, you should know that you have legal options on the table. A Cook County medical malpractice lawyer could help you assess your circumstances and understand what kind of complaint you can bring before a court. These attorneys could ensure you have the time and means to take your case to court.
Do not let instances of medical malpractice go unanswered. You can get in touch with a Cook County medical malpractice lawyer by calling us today.