Types of Medical Malpractice

“What type of medical malpractice case are you dealing with?”

Medical malpractice cases in Chicago and throughout Illinois cover a wide range. No matter what type of medical problem you’re dealing with due to someone’s negligent behavior, contact Coplan & Crane. We work hard to help victims of medical malpractice obtain the compensation they need and deserve. We’re located in Chicago and Oak and serve injury victims throughout Illinois.

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Some of the more common medical malpractice cases include:

  • Medication errors – Dangerous drugs and the wrong medication can cause serious health problems.
  • Hospital Errors – Doctors and nurses that administer the wrong medication, perform the wrong medical procedure or neglect patients can have dire effects.
  • Surgical Mistakes – Surgeons aren’t always careful, and they make mistakes. They need to be held accountable.
  • Gallbladder Surgery Mistakes – Such mistakes can include injury to the bile duct and bile leaking into the abdomen around the pancreas or small intestine.
  • Needle Stick – While many people will not contract a disease, they are in danger of getting potentially fatal diseases from blood borne pathogens

Medication Errors

Medication errors in Illinois put people at grave risk of serious, sometimes fatal injuries. Powerful drugs designed to treat one problem can create more problems when they are prescribed to the wrong person. Sometimes, these mistakes can be traced back to the failure to diagnose the correct illness. Other times, pharmacists might prescribe the wrong drug because they can’t read a doctor’s illegible handwriting. Your medication error could even be linked to surgical mistakes. Whatever the reason, you are the one suffering. And whoever made the mistake needs to be held accountable.

Tracking down who made the error can sometimes be very hard. Often, the doctor, nurse or pharmacist who made the mistake will not admit any wrongdoing. An experienced Chicago medical malpractice lawyer can be your advocate and hold negligent individuals and companies accountable. Our lawyers can pore over the medical records. We have access to top-notch medical experts. We will take this information and convert it into a rock-solid legal case designed to get you the compensation you deserve.

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Hospital Errors

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Hospitals can be large, bureaucratic places where it’s impossible to get a straight answer from someone. That’s why it’s often so frustrating when you’re dealing with an error made by the hospital that results in serious health problems, including:

  • Anoxic brain injuries – Damage to the brain caused by lack of oxygen.
  • Compartment syndrome – Muscle or nerve damage caused by increased pressure placed on muscles. Often occurs which bandages are overly tight.
  • Sepsis – Potentially-fatal complication often associated with hospital infections.
  • MRSA infection – Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection caused by staph bacteria. MRSA is often resistant to antibiotics and very difficult to treat.

Hospitals will rarely admit they did anything wrong. That’s why it’s so important you have an honest, hard-working Chicago medical malpractice lawyer on your side if you’re dealing with a hospital error in Illinois.

At Coplan & Crane, we understand your frustration, and we’re eager to work with you to help get you the compensation you rightfully deserve. Hospital errors can cost people thousands of dollars in unnecessary medical expenses. Whether you’re dealing with a failure to diagnose or medication errors, there are real risks of additional health problems down the road.

Hospital errors can be extremely frustrating. On top of dealing with unresponsive medical workers and staff members, you will probably also encounter lawyers and insurance company employees working on behalf of the hospital. These people might act like they have your best interests at heart. They don’t. They’re working for the hospital and their goal is simple: to pay you as little money as possible.

They don’t intimidate us. We know how to handle hospital risk managers and insurance companies and get you a settlement that covers the true cost of your hospital error. Often, too many people focus on the short-term costs. We look at the big picture. We realize that mistakes made today can cost you thousands of dollars for months or even years from now.

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Surgical Mistakes

Surgical mistakes can cover a wide range of events that can hurt a patient. They include:

  • Performing the wrong operation
  • Operating on the wrong person
  • Failure to diagnose properly
  • Substandard surgical work
  • Operating on the wrong body part
  • Failing to prevent or treat infections

These types of mistakes can have dire consequences, including paralysis, amputation and even death in certain circumstances. In the Chicago area, families dealing with the aftermath of a serious surgical mistake turn to Coplan & Crane to make things right. Located in Oak Park and serving people throughout Illinois, Coplan & Crane has a well-earned reputation as one of the leading medical malpractice law firms in the Chicago area. When a surgical mistake happens, whoever made that mistake needs to be held accountable. Other people’s lives could be at risk if you don’t take a stand.

Allow us to stand up for your rights and make sure you are heard, loud and clear. We have the tools you need to help you get the justice you deserve. Surgical mistakes can severely affect the lives of people and cost families thousands of dollars. Don’t wait for insurance companies to make token offers that only cover a fraction of your expenses due to hospital errors.

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Gallbladder Surgical Mistakes

The gallbladder helps with the digestion of fatty foods by storing bile created by the liver until it’s needed. Usually, removing the gallbladder does not result in serious health problems. Even so, a person’s health can be put at risk due to surgical mistakes involving the gallbladder. The procedure to remove the gallbladder is called a cholecystectomy. When mistakes are made during this surgical procedure, many health problems can occur. Common problems resulting from surgical mistakes made in removing the gallbladder include infections, damage to the bile duct, cholangitis (inflammation of the bile duct) and bile leaking into the abdomen around the liver, pancreas or small intestine. Your health problems involving your gallbladder could also be due to a doctor failing to correctly diagnose your illness, or the surgeon’s failure to diagnose an injury to the bile duct after it has happened.

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Needle Stick

When a needle accidently punctures a person’s skin, that person can suddenly be exposed to potentially fatal diseases. An estimated 600,000 to 800,000 injuries occur each year because someone was accidently stuck with a used needle. Some of the most common diseases people are exposed to when stuck by a contaminated needle include Diphtheria, Hepatitis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Malaria, Syphilis, Tuberculosis and Typhus. Many different types of needles often found in hospitals can be potentially hazardous. Such needles include hypodermic needles, intravenous (IV) stylets, blood collection needles and needles used to connect parts of IV delivery systems. Nurses report the most needle stick injuries. But other health care workers (including physicians and laboratory staff) and housekeepers are also at risk of exposure to dangerous blood-borne pathogens due to needle stick injuries.