Spokane Medical Malpractice Attorneys Ready to Fight For You
Our office in Spokane, WA
- Address: 1312 N Monroe St f179, Spokane, WA 99201
- Open hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm
- Phone number: 509-228-8790
- Map Directions
If you are native to Spokane, you may have spent much of your life enjoying the great outdoors. You may have even worked hard to stay in shape by regularly walking, jogging, or biking through the 37 miles of Centennial Trail. But even fitness buffs are at the mercy of the medical community when tragedy strikes. And when a doctor or nurse makes a mistake, your healthy lifestyle can come to naught in an instant.
When a medical professional makes a mistake that changes the course of your physical existence, it is costly – to you and your family. And if that should happen to you or a loved one, you not only deserve but will actually need monetary compensation to help put your life back together. Get help from the proven Spokane medical malpractice lawyers at Brett McCandlis Brown & Conner PLLC today.
What Exactly Is Medical Malpractice?
This is an important question. Sometimes people think that dissatisfaction with the outcome of a certain medical procedure can form the basis of a lawsuit, but that is not typically true. According to the American Bar Association:
“Medical malpractice is negligence committed by a professional health care provider—a doctor, nurse, dentist, technician, hospital or hospital worker—whose performance of duties departs from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients.”
Since negligence is a critical part of every medical malpractice case, let’s take a brief look at what is needed to prove negligence.
Proving Negligence
Duty
To prove negligence, you have to first prove that the defendant had a duty to the plaintiff. When a doctor or health care provider is involved, there is certainly a professional duty of care that is commensurate with the training received by the caregiver.
Breach of Duty
Within each specialty, there are “standards of practice” that must be followed. Doctors are extensively trained in procedures and protocols for many types of diseases, and it is very important that they follow the prescribed methodology when caring for patients. Generally speaking, breach of duty can be found, if the actions of the doctor or medical professional fall outside of the standards of care required from a professional of equal training.
Causation
This element of negligence in its simplest form means that the harm done to a patient can be traced to the actions of the doctor or medical professional. In other words, there must be enough evidence to prove that any negligent act actually caused patient harm.
Damages
Finally, there must be actual damages to recover for medical malpractice. If medical personnel made a mistake but no damage or harm resulted, then you cannot recover for medical malpractice.
Different Types of Medical Malpractice
There are many different types of medical malpractice. If any of the following errors have occurred in the medical treatment of you or a loved one, contact us. Speak to our trusted Spokane medical malpractice lawyers to schedule a free, no-obligation, confidential consultation:
Surgical Errors ‒ A doctor, other medical professionals, or staff may make an error during surgery, causing injury or even death. A classic example is when a doctor leaves an item inside of the patient, such as a surgical instrument. Other instances include operating on the wrong part of the patient’s body.
Diagnosis Issues ‒ A doctor or other medical professional may either fail to make a diagnosis, make a delayed diagnosis, or make the wrong diagnosis. Any of these diagnosis issues can lead to injury or death. For instance, if your doctor diagnoses your spouse with cancer but it is too late to render effective treatment, and your doctor should have known that this was the diagnosis much earlier, your doctor made a delayed diagnosis.
Failure to Treat ‒ A doctor or other medical professional may diagnose correctly, but fail to render the proper treatment to a patient. An example of this is releasing a patient too soon if that release causes harm to the patient.
Anesthesia Errors ‒ Anesthesia issues are serious and often fatal. Anesthesia must be administered in the proper dosage, and the patient’s vital signs must be properly monitored before, during, and after the administration of anesthesia. If these protocols are not met, the patient may suffer an anesthesia error.
Birth Injury ‒ Birth injury is unfortunate, but an all too common area of medical malpractice. An example of birth injury is a botched cesarean section (c-section), resulting in injury to the mother, the child, or both.
Infection ‒ Oftentimes, infection associated with medical treatment could have been prevented by your doctor, medical professionals, or staff at the hospital. If you contracted an infection while receiving medical care, you may be the victim of medical malpractice.
Accidents ‒ Doctors, other medical professionals, and medical staff are sometimes responsible for accidents at the medical facility that cause injury to a patient, such as dropping clients during bed transfers.
If you are not sure if you or your loved one’s injury falls into one of these categories, do not hesitate to call and schedule a consultation with us today. Our compassionate Spokane medical malpractice attorneys can put your mind at ease and let you know what your options are.
What Should I Know about Malpractice Cases in Spokane?
There are some things to keep in mind as you contemplate your case. In Spokane, WA:
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You have three years after the malpractice occurred, or one year after discovering the injury (if it was delayed discovery) to file a medical malpractice claim. - Unlike some other states, Washington has decided that it is unconstitutional to place a cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.
- In an effort to resolve these cases without judicial intervention, it is mandatory that parties to the action participate in mediation. This does not hamper or impede your access to a jury trial should you choose to go that route, but it is a statutory step that must be taken.
What Types of Damages Can I Recover?
If you or someone you love has been injured by the negligence of a medical professional, you may be able to recover certain types of damages. Never make the assumption that you “don’t have a case” before speaking with a Spokane medical malpractice lawyer at Brett McCandlis Brown & Conner PLLC. Doctors work hard to cover up and deny negligent mistakes, but we can help you uncover the truth and get you the money that you need to help you put your life back together. Some damages that can be recovered are:
- Any and all medical expenses related to the injury, including doctors’ bills, hospital bills, ambulance charges, medical equipment costs, prescription medications, and therapy fees.
- If you lost work, or even lose your job due to the injury, you can recover for lost wages both past, present, and future. It may take some work to determine the proper amounts, particularly when trying to assess future losses, but this is where the expertise of your lawyer is critical.
- Pain and suffering.
Contact Us Today
If you believe that you may be a victim of medical malpractice, don’t talk yourself out of taking your next steps. Don’t assume that you have no case until you speak with a trusted Spokane medical malpractice attorney from Brett McCandlis Brown & Conner PLLC.
Our highly-skilled Spokane medical malpractice attorneys also handle other types of personal injury claims, no matter how big, small, or unusual it might seem. Some of the injury cases we handle include motor vehicle accidents, semi-truck accidents, dog attacks, car crash accidents, and wrongful death claim.
If you need a legal team who can aggressively fight for your claim, we are happy to sit down with you, take a look at your case, and help you determine what your next steps should be. So call us today or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free, confidential case consultation.
