When a medical error causes long-term disability, the consequences can be life-altering. Medical errors can have a variety of serious consequences. In some cases, they can cause long-term physical or cognitive disabilities—and these disabilities can impact all aspects of patients’ and their loved ones’ lives.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a long-term disability and believe a medical error caused it, what are your legal rights?
Patients and families who are struggling to cope with the effects of medical errors are entitled to compensation under Illinois law. When doctors and other healthcare providers make mistakes that have life-altering consequences, they can—and should—be held accountable. Seeking compensation involves filing a medical malpractice claim, and patients and family members can hire a medical malpractice lawyer to represent them at no out-of-pocket cost.
In all cases, filing a medical malpractice claim is a complex process. But, the process can be even more complex when a medical error causes long-term disability and you are seeking financial compensation. This is because the financial and non-financial costs of long-term disabilities can be substantial, and it is critical for patients and families to ensure that they are seeking full compensation for their present and future losses.
While the process is complex, patients and family members can—and should—hire an experienced lawyer to handle the process for them. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will be able to handle all aspects of the process, from proving the medical error to proving how much the patient or the patient’s family deserves to recover after a medical error caused long-term disability.
With this in mind, here is what you can expect when you hire an experienced lawyer to help you file a medical malpractice claim related to a long-term disability:
For purposes of filing a medical malpractice claim, proving that a medical error caused a patient’s long-term disability involves engaging a qualified medical expert who can review the patient’s medical records and clearly explain how and why the error led to the patient’s diagnosis. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will be able to choose a qualified medical expert and work with the expert to ensure that he or she has the documentation needed to move forward.
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will also be able to handle the process of calculating the lifetime costs of a patient’s long-term disability. This includes not only future medical bills and other out-of-pocket expenses, but also loss of future income and benefits. In cases where a medical error causes long-term disability, patients’ lost future earnings can be substantial.
Under Illinois law, patients whose lives have been negatively impacted when a medical error has caused long-term disability are entitled to compensation for their non-financial losses as well. What constitutes “just compensation” for these losses in any particular case depends on the patient’s unique individual circumstances. Generally speaking, however, recoverable non-financial losses in medical malpractice cases include physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma and distress, loss of consortium and companionship, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Before patients and families can file medical malpractice claims, they must comply with strict pre-filing requirements under Illinois law. Here too, an experienced medical practice lawyer will be able to do what is necessary to seek compensation after a medical error has caused long-term disability.
In the vast majority of cases, filing a medical malpractice claim involves dealing with the at-fault healthcare provider’s insurance company. Today, nearly all healthcare providers have medical malpractice insurance that covers medical errors resulting in long-term disabilities and other life-altering consequences, including situations where a medical error has caused long-term disability.
When you file a medical malpractice claim, your lawyer will work to secure a fair insurance settlement on your behalf. If a fair settlement offer isn’t on the table, your lawyer will take your claim to court. But, this won’t be necessary in most cases. While there are no guarantees, most successful medical malpractice claims settle without going to trial.
If you need to know more about your rights when a medical error causes long-term disability, we strongly encourage you to get in touch.
Contact the Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Coplan + Crane today online or at (312) 982-0588 for a FREE case evaluation. We help clients across Illinois, including Chicago, Oak Park, Rockford, and other areas.
