Medical Malpractice vs. Negligence
Medical negligence is when a healthcare professional fails to provide the standard of care expected of a reasonable person in their position.
For example:
- We were the medical malpractice attorneys for a patient who went to a Missouri emergency room with symptoms of a brain infection. The jury found his doctors failed to diagnose and treat an infection any reasonable doctor would have recognized. They awarded our client $5 million.
- We represented the family of a baby whose leg was paralyzed after a St. Louis hospital incorrectly treated a rectal abscess. The jury found no reasonable medical team would have pursued such a course of treatment. Our client was awarded $16 million.
When medical negligence occurs, a patient can sue for medical malpractice. In Missouri, the top causes of medical malpractice payouts are “improper performance” and “failure to diagnose,” both negligent actions.
People often associate “medical malpractice” with doctors, but in fact, any health care provider can be held responsible for medical negligence. These include:
- Nurses
- Technicians, such as radiologists, phlebotomists, and opticians
- Pharmacists
- Dentists
- Organizations like hospitals, clinics, and medical centers
Call for a free consultation: 314-433-9131
How common is medical malpractice?
An alarming 2023 analysis by Johns Hopkins University found almost 800,000 Americans are killed or permanently disabled each year due to medical errors.
According to the American Medical Association’s Division of Economic and Health Policy Research, more than one-third of physicians are sued for medical malpractice at some point in their career.
Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers believe a shift in how medicine is practiced is partly to blame.
Over the last few decades, our attorneys have seen a growing number of Missouri health care providers shift to a specialized model of treatment.
Hyper-specialization means hospitalized patients often see multiple providers, each focused on their own narrow area of expertise. Unfortunately, in this model no one steps back to see the patient as a whole, and how all these various treatments affect them.
Soaring healthcare costs in Missouri may also play a role in the unacceptably high rate of medical negligence.
We’ve seen insurance companies exercise growing power to influence medical decisions. Sometimes it’s an insurer, not a doctor, who dictates which diagnostic tests or medical treatments a patient may receive.
Call for a free consultation: 314-433-9131
Types of medical negligence
Medical negligence occurs any time a health care provider fails to meet the reasonable standard of care. Some examples of negligence include:
- Failure to recognize and diagnose a condition
- Surgical errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Failure to monitor a patient
- Failure to order the right tests
- Lab errors
- Birth injuries
- Pharmaceutical injuries
- Failure to take timely action on a diagnosis
To successfully argue a medical malpractice claim, lawyers must prove not only that the medical professional was negligent, but that their negligence resulted in harm. Not all harm is physical. Injuries a person might suffer from medical negligence include:
- Disfigurement
- Disability
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Death
How to know if you have a medical malpractice case
It’s important to understand that a bad outcome doesn’t necessarily mean there was negligence. Injuries to patients sometimes happen despite the best efforts of their medical team.
It’s also important to understand where the bar is set. A medical malpractice lawyer isn’t trying to prove your doctor made a mistake a better doctor would have avoided. To win on your claim, you have to prove it was a mistake any reasonable doctor would have avoided.
You may have a medical malpractice claim if:
- You were treated by a medical professional
- The medical professional was negligent – either taking the wrong action or failing to take the right action
- The negligence led to a demonstrable physical, mental, or economic injury
Missouri statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims
In Missouri, you have two years from the date of the medical error to file a claim.
If the negligence included leaving a foreign object in your body or failing to report test results, the two-year window starts from the time you know or should have known about the issue.
If a person dies due to medical negligence, their family has three years to file a claim.
Patients who suffered medical negligence as a child have two years from their 18th birthday to file a claim.
Call for a free consultation: 314-433-9131
How our medical malpractice lawyers can help you
The burden of proof is high. And health care providers employ teams of medical malpractice lawyers to argue on their side. To get the compensation you deserve, you need an attorney on your side who is qualified to take them on.
When our attorneys build a case, they work with medical and life care experts to assess the injury’s long-term impacts:
- Impact on your life
- Impact on the life of your family
- Potential future costs
We want the compensation you receive to meet your needs for the rest of your life. For example, if your injury resulted in permanent disability, we will fight to obtain compensation for things like physical rehabilitation, the cost of assistive devices like wheelchairs, and the loss of future income.
Missouri law requires medical malpractice claims to be supported by an affidavit from another health care provider in the same field.
For example, if you suffered an anesthesia error, another anesthesiologist must confirm your anesthesiologist failed to provide a reasonable standard of care. Our experienced lawyers will obtain those expert statements to support your case for you.
Potential compensation for medical malpractice claims in Missouri
When deciding on your compensation, a jury may consider factors like the type and degree of negligence, the type and severity of injuries, and the level of economic loss.
In 2015, Missouri legislators capped the amount a person can be awarded for pain and suffering to $400,000 to $700,000, with the limits to increase by 1.7% each year.
There is no limit to the compensation a jury may award for lost income, medical expenses, and other damages.
How Fernandez Law's medical malpractice lawyers have helped people in Missouri
- $7 million settlement in the case of a boy who suffered brain damage due to failure to diagnose and treat a pulmonary embolism
- $3 million settlement in the case of a man paralyzed due to failure to diagnose and treat a spinal infection
- $1.2 million settlement in the case of a man who suffered a brain injury after emergency room staff failed to recognize a developing stroke
- $800,000 in the case of a woman blinded in one eye due to failure to treat an eye infection
The team at Fernandez Law has more than 30 years’ experience investigating and prosecuting medical malpractice claims. Our medical malpractice attorneys are determined to win our clients the compensation they deserve.
If you’ve suffered from a health care provider’s mistake, get in touch to schedule your free consultation.
Gonzalo Fernandez did a great job of representing our son in a complex medical malpractice case. His case lasted over two years and during the entire time Gonz kept us informed and updated. The tireless work that Gonz and his firm did provide a future for our son and relief to the entire family emotionally and financially. We would highly recommend Gonz and his law firm to anyone needing professional legal representation in the complicated world of medicine.
- Steve