Most of us consult with a doctor after an injury or illness disrupts our daily lives. If you are like most of the U.S. population, a trip to the doctor’s office is met with anything but enthusiasm and is often considered a chore. However, most of us visit a doctor hoping our condition will get better, not worse.
A doctor’s misguided advice could have serious repercussions on your health and well-being and should be addressed as soon as the issue is made apparent. De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers has medical malpractice lawyers in Las Vegas who are willing to advocate for your rights.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is incorrect or inadequate medical care that results from negligence by one or more medical professionals. Negligence is careless or reckless behavior by a party you have entrusted with your medical care. A valid medical malpractice case must contain these four elements:
- Duty of care: The doctor and others providing you with medical treatment had an obligation to keep you safe and not put you at risk of harm. In general, when you seek treatment from any healthcare provider, that provider owes you a duty of care.
- Breach of duty: Your healthcare provider violated the duty of care by providing you with substandard care. Medical care can be subjective, so to determine whether malpractice has occurred, the court will compare the treatment you received to the treatment other practitioners would have provided in the same situation.
- Causation: The medical treatment you received directly caused your injuries.
- Damages: Your injuries can be financially compensated.
Our medical malpractice attorney in Las Vegas with De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers will evaluate your case, determine whether it contains these elements, and advise you on your options for seeking damages.
Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice means that a healthcare provider has been negligent in their care of a patient, and their actions did not rise to the standard, reasonable level of care that a similar healthcare professional would have displayed. Medical malpractice claims may be brought against many parties after an injury occurs as a result of their medical care. According to NRS § 41A.017, these parties may be liable for a medical malpractice claim:
- Doctors
- Physician assistants
- Licensed nurse
- Registered physical therapist
- Podiatric physician
- Chiropractor
- Doctor of Oriental medicine
- Registered physical therapist
- Dispensing optician
- Optometrist
- Licensed psychologist
- Medical laboratory director
- Medical laboratory technician
- Licensed dietitian
- Licensed hospital, clinic, or surgery center
Our medical malpractice lawyer in Las Vegas will evaluate your case, identify all the potentially liable parties, and help you seek damages from them.
Common Medical Malpractice Cases
Medical malpractice can happen in any medical setting, to patients of any age, with any condition. Sadly, malpractice can turn a minor condition into a major problem. In some cases, medical errors cause permanent injuries and even death. Medical malpractice injuries are often caused by:
Misdiagnosis
A misdiagnosis can cause many health problems. If a doctor diagnoses you with a condition that you do not have, you may endure treatments you do not need while missing out on the treatments you do need. If your correct treatments are significantly delayed, you may miss the treatment window entirely. For example, if you have cancer that is initially misdiagnosed, it may progress beyond treatment before being correctly diagnosed.
Some conditions can overlap, and it can be challenging for any doctor to tell them apart. Others have symptoms that are vague, and still, others are extremely rare. Even the best doctors can make an improper diagnosis in these situations, and it is not necessarily malpractice. But if another doctor would have made the right diagnosis when presented with your symptoms, you may have a valid malpractice case.
Delayed Diagnosis
A delayed diagnosis causes many of the same problems as a misdiagnosis. If you do not receive the right treatment at the right time, your condition may deteriorate. Eventually, it may not be treatable.
A delayed diagnosis may occur because the doctor dismisses your complaints or does not really listen to you. In other cases, doctors may fail to order any tests, fail to order the right tests, or misread test results. Sometimes, even when doctors have all the right information in front of them, they simply fail to draw the correct conclusion, leading to disastrous results.
Incorrect Prescription or Dangerous Prescriptions
Medication errors are one of the most common types of medical malpractice. Doctors prescribe medicine, pharmacists fill the prescriptions, and nurses dispense it, which means there are many opportunities for a medication error. Some of the most common errors are:
- Wrong medication
- Wrong dose
- Negative interaction with other medications
- Patient allergy
- Failure to warn patient of potential side effects
Surgical Errors
When surgeons make mistakes, the results may be frustrating at best and irreparable at worst. Patients injured by a surgical error frequently require follow-up surgery to correct the mistakes of the first procedure. Some of the most common surgical errors include:
- Incorrect surgical procedure: Surgeons sometimes perform the wrong surgery. Not only must the patient recover from an unnecessary procedure, but he must also undergo the procedure that was not performed.
- Wrong-site surgical procedure: Here, the surgeon performs the correct procedure but at the wrong site; for example, operating on the left leg instead of the right. Occasionally, surgeons amputate the wrong limb, which cannot be repaired.
- Forgotten objects: Surgeons may leave objects behind inside the patient. These objects, which may include surgical sponges, towels, and instruments, must be removed.
- Surgical injuries: Careless surgeons may damage nerves, muscles, and internal organs during surgery.
- Infection: Improper cleaning of the surgical site or instruments can cause serious infections.
Pregnancy and Childbirth Injuries
Pregnancy and childbirth injuries can have devastating consequences. According to the Merck Manual, most birth injuries result from the natural force of labor and delivery, but some result from medical malpractice. Doctors who fail to properly monitor the pregnancy and delivery may miss key signals that they need to intervene. For example, doctors may miss a mother’s dangerously high blood pressure rate before giving birth. Or they could miss the child’s low heart rate or lack of oxygen during delivery.
Some birth injuries are minor and heal on their own, but others cause permanent damage. Here are some of the most common birth injuries:
- Cerebral palsy
- Erb’s palsy
- Bleeding in or around the brain
- Nerve injuries affecting the face, arm, and breathing
- Spinal cord injuries
- Perinatal asphyxia (decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the baby)
- Brain damage
- Learning disabilities
- Delayed development
- Death
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia is an important component of many treatments. Anesthesia blocks pain and subdues the patient, and many procedures would be impossible without it. However, it comes with a lot of risks, so anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists must give patients proper instructions before the procedure, take care to administer anesthesia properly, and monitor the patient for an adverse reactions during and after the procedure. Anesthesia errors can lead to:
- Chipped teeth
- Larynx damage
- Allergic reaction
- Respiratory difficulties
- Pneumonia
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Brain damage
- Anesthesia awareness (conscious during the procedure)
- Death
- Negligent medical care can have a devastating impact on your future.
These injuries can completely change a victim’s life and that of their family and can cause much more serious ailments than the victim initially was treated for. Medical malpractice claims play an important role for injured victims and future patients alike, as they ensure future patients continue to receive the utmost care by medical professionals. Medical professionals are only liable for a medical malpractice claim if their actions did not rise to the same level as what a similarly situated medical professional would have decided.
Ensuring a Fair Recovery for Your Claim
Our med mal lawyer in Las Vegas will advocate for your best interests, ensuring you can pursue fair recovery for your claim. Each case is different, so we will evaluate your case’s details to determine how much it is worth. More severe injuries typically result in greater recoveries. You may be able to recover:
Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
Economic damages reflect direct expenses caused by your malpractice injuries. NRS § 41A.007 allows you to recover:
- Medical bills for follow-up appointments to diagnose and treat your malpractice injuries
- Lost wages for any unpaid time off work you must take because of your injuries
Non-Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
Non-economic damages reflect intangible losses such as pain and suffering caused by your malpractice injuries. NRS § 41A.011 allows you to recover non-economic damages if your injuries leave you permanently disabled or disfigured, require extensive follow-up treatments, cause you chronic pain, or leave you with emotional trauma.
Wrongful Death Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
If you lost a family member because of medical malpractice, you may be able to recover damages for your loved one’s medical treatment and the pain and suffering they endured before passing away. You may also be able to recover funeral and burial expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and more.
We Will Seek the Full Value of Your Losses
Medical malpractice claims often follow complex laws that frequently change and impose limits to damages that can be recovered. The current non-economic damage limit in Nevada is $350,000, which will cover damages related to pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and other damages that are more difficult to calculate. However, Nevada does not impose limits on economic damages. Therefore, an injured victim will be entitled to bring a claim representing the full amount of medical care and lost income they experienced as a result of the medical malpractice.
Hospitals and other medical facilities are particularly in tune with potential medical malpractice claims and will often have insurance adjusters on-site to prevent claims from occurring. It is, therefore, important to discuss your injury with a medical malpractice attorney who can advise you as to the likelihood of your claim’s success.
Positive Reviews from Our Clients
At De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers, we represent people just like you who have been injured because of another party’s negligence. Our team will work tirelessly to get you the compensation you deserve for your medical malpractice injury. Here are a few client testimonials from clients we have helped:
- Past client: “De Castroverde Law Group has been really helpful with my case. They guide you through everything from the beginning to end. I just want to say thank you David and Orlando for doing such a great job.”
- Tavo: “The staff is great, Orlando De Castroverde and David Menocal are great. I just want to echo, and agree with, the sentiments of the other 5 star reviews. Orlando and David seemed sincere and made me and my family feel better about our situation. Totally happy for what they’ve done for my daughter. 5 stars ain’t enough… Side note: Being around them even made me want to work out/get to the gym now.”
- Maria C.: “If you are looking for caring and excellent attorneys, I highly recommend Orlando De Castroverde and David Menocal. They are very experienced and care about their clients. I was recommended to them by a family member for a very difficult situation. They took care of everything and made me feel so relieved. They care about their clients. Their staff is great also. If you leave a message or request a call back they are quick to respond. Thank you for the awesome help from Orlando and David. I am truly grateful.”
File Your Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Before Time Runs Out
In Nevada, the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice claim is one year from the date the patient discovered or should have discovered the injury or three years from the date the health care provider inflicted the injury, whichever is sooner.
Contact De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one has been injured due to the actions of a medical professional, do not hesitate to contact the attorneys of De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers. Medical malpractice claims can be devastating to a family and may lead to doubts about all future medical care in the future. It is, therefore, important to prevent future patients from experiencing the pain you went through and holding the medical professional liable for their actions.
De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers has malpractice lawyers in Las Vegas that want to provide you with the needed resources and materials to recover from medical malpractice. Contact our Las Vegas office today for your initial free consultation.