If you suffered complications as a result of medical malpractice in RI then you need to contact a Rhode Island medical malpractice lawyer. Every year, patients visiting hospitals and doctors’ offices in Rhode Island expecting quality medical care end up being injured through negligence, errors and mistakes. Like every type of service industry, many incompetent professionals in the medical field in RI provide substandard level of care to their patients.

Rhode Island medical malpractice lawyer

ri-medical-malpractice attorneys
Rhode Island medical malpractice lawyer

As a result, the Courts have set forth various laws to protect patients who suffer injury through incompetence or negligence of medical professionals. Medical mistakes in Rhode Island is a huge societal issue that is causing misery among victims as well as clogging state court dockets.

Types of medical malpractice

Patients injured in Rhode Island from medical mistakes may file a medical malpractice claim in providence Superior Court against the professionals and facilities that caused them harm. Common physician mistake cases involve:

Improper Diagnosis in Rhode Island

In situations where symptoms are not always obvious, doctors and other healthcare providers can easily misdiagnose, delay diagnosis or fail to diagnose the problem altogether. However, any improper diagnosis or failure to diagnose can cost the patient’s life when treatment options are available. Common diagnostic errors often involve failing to accurately diagnose a variety of conditions including pulmonary embolism, cancer, meningitis, heart attack, stroke, diabetes and appendicitis.

Anesthesia Mistakes in RI hospitals

The patient can suffer serious lifelong injury or death when the anesthesiologist administers the wrong dosage of anesthesia. In addition, the doctor can use the wrong drug or make a mistake when attempting to keep the patient under during the procedure, surgery or treatment.

Surgical Mistake at Rhode Island hospital

Many medical malpractice lawsuits and claims in Rhode Island have been filed against surgeons who have caused various complications during a procedure including performing surgery at the wrong site, or on the wrong patient. Some surgeons have performed an incorrect incision, caused significant errors or damage to a body part or organ during surgery.

Defective Medical Devices

In some medical malpractice cases in Rhode Island, the doctor, medical facility or hospital is not directly at fault for the patient’s injuries or death. In some situations, a defective or malfunctioning medical device, product or equipment was used during the surgery. Defective equipment can cause significant harm or kill the patient, as can defective medical devices including artificial prosthetic like hip and knee joints. Medical malpractice and product liability causes of action in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations cases involving defective devices such as hernia mesh are often filed against product manufacturers, distributors and suppliers.

Prescription Medication Error in RI

Many patients suffer serious injuries when prescribed the wrong medication or have the drug filled incorrectly by the pharmacist. In some situations, prescription medication errors can be fatal. Unfortunately, many prescription drug mistakes are unreported or unnoticed by the patient or the patient’s family. Common prescription medication mistakes include: • Prescribing the wrong drug • Taking the incorrect dosage • Failing to anticipate complications • Prescribing a defective or dangerous drug • Filling the wrong prescription due to the doctor’s illegible handwriting Claims based on prescription medical errors in Providence, East Providence and Pawtucket can include various medical health professionals like doctors, physicians, surgeons, healthcare staff, nurses, pharmacists, marketers and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Medical malpractice

Victims need to be aware of the Rhode Island medical malpractice statute of limitations. Victims need to retain the best medical malpractice lawyers in ri  well before the deadline expires.

Childbirth Injury

Unfortunately, newborns can be the victims of childbirth injury that occurs because of a medical error during pregnancy, labor or delivery. In many incidences, the family is unaware of the injury until weeks, months or years after the child’s birth. Mothers can be prescribed the wrong medication that could cause the newborn harm. Obstetricians can cause injury to the baby or mother by improperly using forceps and vacuums during delivery, or fail to diagnose fetal distress, deformity or complications before, during and after the baby is born save document go to sleep. Victims of medical malpractice in Rhode Island need to hire skilled RI personal injury attorneys or a Rhode Island medical malpractice lawyer to handle their lawsuit or claim for recompense. A Rhode Island medical malpractice attorney can help the victim get the compensation they deserve. It is important that a victim of medical mistakes goes to a very experience RI medical malpractice lawyer. This is because the most common types of medical malpractice cases are complex. A reputable Rhode Island medical malpractice law firm can ensure that all of the lawsuit documents are filed properly before the statute of limitations expires. Patients that suffer injuries through negligence have the legal right to seek compensation for their pain, suffering, damages and losses. Just like everyone else, medical professionals in Rhode Island can make mistakes and act negligently (medical malpractice). When these individuals do make mistakes, however, the consequences can be life-altering or even fatal. Here is a look at some of the most common types of malfeasance in Rhode island and Providence Plantations and why it is so important for patients to seek out legal assistance if they are a victim. If you or a loved one was a victim of medical malpractice in RI, please contact Providence Injury lawyer.  A RI medical malpractice lawyer can fight to get you justice and the compensation that you deserve.

Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

Many medical issues can easily be treated if they are quickly and accurately diagnosed. When the symptoms are not perfectly clear or the doctor does not take enough time to assess the situation, it does not take much for a misdiagnosis to occur. These errors often take place with conditions such as diabetes, appendicitis, strokes, and various forms of cancer.

Surgical Errors

Even minor surgical errors can result in permanent disabilities or death. Some of the most common errors include incorrect incisions, carrying out the wrong surgery, operating on the wrong patient, and damaging nearby organs. Many patients do not even realize that a mistake has been made until months or even years after the surgery.

Anesthesia Errors

Modern anesthetics are incredibly effective and safe when they are administered correctly, but improperly administered anesthetics can be fatal. Patients that are the victim of anesthesia mistakes often experience labored breathing, brain damage, and comas.

Pregnancy or Childbirth Errors

Negligence can take place before, during, or immediately following the birth of a child. While every pregnancy does come with some inherent risks, the medical professionals that are assisting a mother with her pregnancy must take every precaution to protect the mother and child. Some of the most common pregnancy and childbirth errors include improperly identifying birth defects, administering the wrong medication, and a failure to anticipate birth complications.

Prescription Drug Errors

Prescription drug errors are extremely common and affect thousands of people every single year. In addition to prescribing the wrong medication, the doctor or pharmacist might also prescribe the wrong dose. Another common error is not anticipating some of the side effects of certain medication. It is an unfortunate fact that countless prescription drug errors go unreported or completely unnoticed by patients every year.

Defective Products

Not every medical malpractice case is the result of mistakes made by medical professionals. In some instances, medical products are defective or used incorrectly. An example of this would be a blood sugar testing kit that has not been properly sterilized. If you believe you have been injured due to professional negligence by a doctor or healthcare provider, you may need the services of a medical malpractice attorney. This will show you some key steps and questions involved in hiring an attorney, because it can appear to be a daunting task if you’ve never done it before. You don’t want to hire just any Rhode Island Personal injury attorney, but the right one, such as one that would meet certain criteria, as will be discussed later.

Rhode Island Medical Malpractice attorney

The First step is embarking on your search for a RI medical malpractice attorney. But before we go into detail about the actual search, here’s some key criteria that you want your Providence Medical Malpractice lawyer to meet:
  • Experience in representing clients who have filed lawsuits for medical malpractice
  • Charges a legal fee that you consider reasonable
  • Someone you can foresee working with for months or however long it takes for the case to be resolved
  • Suggest a valuable strategy for handling your case
  • Makes you feel confident in their abilities and judgment
  • Gives you a realistic estimate of how much money you may recover if your RI medical malpractice case is settled or taken to trial In Providence Superior Court.

Finding a top RI medical malpractice lawyer

There are a number of ways to identify RI med mal attorneys in Providence that are qualified, here we’ll cover two. The first being a website or service that connects you to at least one attorney in your area. Another option is to ask your friends or family to see if they’ve had an attorney such as one that you are looking for. Many lawyers get a lot of their business through referrals so this is a good option. Once you’ve found attorney(s) of interest, prepare to meet with and interview each of them in what is called the initial consultation. Most attorneys in the field of personal injury or medical malpractice do not charge for this initial meeting. Write down what happened, provide documentation related to the incident, and medical bills since the incident. Important Documentation includes medical records, test results, and more. The medical records are especially important because some Medical Malpractice attorneys need to analyze this to determine if there is a case. Have some questions on hand to get an idea of who you’re working with and if they meet criteria. Some sample ideal questions are:

Questions to ask Providence medical malpractice lawyers

  • How much do you charge for services, and how is payment made?
  • What are your impressions of the case?
  • How much experience do you have with medical malpractice cases?
As you actually meet with the Personal injury attorney, you want to take notes, especially when your questions are answered. If more than one attorney seems like a good candidate, you may want to get some outside feedback through references, ultimately making your decision. “Over the last 13 years there has been an unquestionable drop in the total number of paid medical malpractice claims against health care professionals including doctors in the U.S. The amount spent on these claims has dropped significantly as well. The first two graphs show this trend. For example, there were just over 15,000 paid medical malpractice claims against MDs and DOs in 2003 in the U.S. By 2015 that number had dropped to below 8600 which is more than a 40% drop in 13 years. The amount paid on these claims dropped by about 23% during that time.”  True cost  Nolo stated: “While the dollar figures are fairly high for medical malpractice plaintiffs who are successful at trial, the numbers show that plaintiffs aren’t all that likely to get a verdict in their favor. Of medical malpractice cases that make it to court trials, plaintiffs prevailed in 21% of verdicts, while settlement-based resolutions favored the plaintiff in 61% of cases (data from NEJM study discussed above).” MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, National Medical Malpractice Statistics A breakdown of data on plaintiffs, defendants, types of medical errors, and more. Medical malpractice lawyers in Providence can assess your medical negligence cause of action and determine whether you have a viable claim for medical negligence. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported “During 2005 an estimated 2,449 medical malpractice cases were disposed of by bench or jury trial in state courts of general jurisdiction throughout the country. A jury decided about 99% of these trials. Plaintiffs prevailed in less than a quarter of medical malpractice trials. Medical malpractice jury trials garnered relatively high median damage awards. The awards in medical malpractice jury trials ($400,000) were 17 times greater than the overall median awards in tort jury trials. These high award amounts may be partially explained by the fact that allegations of wrongful death were asserted in two-fifths of medical malpractice jury trials with plaintiff winners.” BJS.GOV  Medical malpractice refers to situations in which a healthcare professional or healthcare facility’s actions or omissions result in substandard or negligent care that causes harm to a patient. There are various types of medical malpractice, including:
  1. Diagnosis Errors: a. Misdiagnosis: Occurs when a healthcare provider incorrectly identifies a patient’s condition, leading to incorrect treatment or delayed treatment. b. Failure to Diagnose: Occurs when a healthcare provider fails to identify a medical condition that should have been reasonably detected, leading to delayed treatment and harm to the patient.
  2. Surgical Errors: a. Wrong-site surgery: Performing a surgical procedure on the wrong body part or the wrong patient. b. Inadequate surgical technique: Errors made during surgery, such as damaging organs or tissues, leaving surgical instruments or sponges inside the patient, or performing unnecessary procedures.
  3. Medication Errors: a. Prescribing errors: Mistakes in medication dosage, type, or frequency. b. Administration errors: Errors in giving the medication to the patient, such as the wrong route, patient, or time.
  4. Anesthesia Errors: a. Administering the wrong type or dosage of anesthesia. b. Failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs during anesthesia.
  5. Birth Injuries: a. Injuries to the infant during childbirth, including brain damage, nerve injuries, or bone fractures. b. Injuries to the mother, such as excessive bleeding, infection, or surgical errors during a C-section.
  6. Hospital-acquired Infections: Infections contracted by patients while in a healthcare facility due to inadequate infection control measures.
  7. Negligent Post-operative Care: Substandard care provided to patients after surgery, leading to complications, infections, or other harm.
  8. Informed Consent Violations: Performing medical procedures without obtaining proper informed consent from the patient, or failing to disclose the risks and alternatives.
  9. Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse: Mistreatment, neglect, or abuse of residents in nursing homes, including inadequate care, medication errors, or physical abuse.
  10. Radiology and Imaging Errors: Misinterpretation of medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans, leading to misdiagnosis or delayed treatment.
  11. Failure to Monitor or Follow-up: Neglecting to monitor a patient’s condition or failing to follow up on test results or changes in the patient’s health.
  12. Defective Medical Devices: Harm caused by the use of defective medical equipment or devices, including implants, prosthetics, or medical instruments.
It’s important to note that medical malpractice cases can be complex, and not all adverse medical outcomes are necessarily due to malpractice. To establish a medical malpractice claim, it typically requires demonstrating that the healthcare provider’s actions or omissions deviated from the accepted standard of care and directly resulted in harm to the patient. Laws regarding medical malpractice vary by jurisdiction, so consulting with a qualified attorney is advisable if you believe you have a potential case. Contact Attorney David Slepkow for a free case evaluation with no obligation, if you or or loved one has suffered at the hands of any medical practitioner, nursing home or hospital in Rhode Island. Also contact us if you are a victim of defective hernia mesh or recalled hernia mesh.
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