Item: Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer
Rating: 5
Author: Kayla S.

doctor checking medical needs to avoid medical malpractice

You were already hurting when you went to the doctor. Now, through no fault of your own, you are worse off than you were before. It’s not supposed to work that way.

A doctor takes an oath to “do no harm.” When they break that oath, there should be consequences.

Medical malpractice is a serious issue in Kentucky. If you have been harmed due to the negligent actions of a healthcare professional, you could be eligible for payment to help you get your life back on track.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer have fought for people like you for years. We have the skills, the resources, and the courage to take on healthcare providers and insurance companies.

You deserve better than what has happened to you — we will fight for the compensation you need and the justice you deserve. Contact us today for your free consultation.

What Do You Have to Prove in a Medical Malpractice Claim?

Not all unsuccessful treatments or undesirable results become a case of medical malpractice.

In order for medical malpractice to have occurred, you must prove four elements of your case:

You must first prove that the healthcare worker owed you a duty of care. A duty of care in these cases typically means there was a doctor/patient relationship established. For example, if you had a heart attack in the same restaurant a doctor was eating at, there is no patient/doctor relationship, and so, there is no duty of care established. However, if you visited an emergency room for a heart attack, there is a doctor/patient relationship because the doctor has agreed to treat anyone who enters the emergency room.
The second element of proof you must show is that the healthcare worker was negligent in providing care. In the medical world, this means that the worker did not provide the same standard of care another healthcare worker would have in the same situation.
Once you have established that the healthcare worker was negligent, you must then prove that you suffered injuries as a result. Medical malpractice claims are meant to compensate the victims for their injuries. If you weren’t injured, there is nothing to provide compensation for, and as such, there is no personal injury lawsuit.
Lastly, you must prove that the healthcare worker’s negligence was a direct cause of your injuries. If a healthcare worker was negligent but that negligence was not the direct cause of your injuries or illness, you cannot file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the healthcare worker.

Although a medical malpractice claim can seem straightforward, they can be very difficult to prove. Our knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys can review your case for free and explain your legal options. Contact us now to talk.

Get a Free Consultation: 877-809-5352 Contact Us Online

Process for Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim

There are many steps when filing a medical malpractice claim in Kentucky:

The process starts with collecting medical records and other evidence to prove your case and filing a certificate of merit, if necessary. This can be overwhelming for those suffering from severe injuries and illnesses, but an attorney will know what evidence to look for, how to collect it, and how to use it to prove your case.
Next, an attorney will issue a complaint, which is the official start of the lawsuit.
After the complaint is issued, the defendant will have a chance to respond. In many cases, the healthcare worker will deny the claims, and so the lawsuit will proceed.
Before the trial, there is a discovery process. During this process, each side will exchange their evidence, list of witnesses, and other information.
After each side has exchanged all information, the case will either settle, go to mediation, or proceed to trial.

Medical malpractice claims can take a long time before they are settled or a verdict is issued at trial. A Kentucky medical malpractice lawyer can make the entire process easier and handle every aspect of your claim.

Call Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer today to learn how we can make this difficult process easier for you and your family.

How Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers Can Help You

When you are coping with a devastating injury or serious illness, the last thing you should be worried about is a legal claim.

Our medical malpractice lawyers take that pressure off you by handling every aspect of your case, so you can focus on your health. This includes:

Reviewing your medical records for any mistakes or inconsistencies
Consulting with experts in the field about your case and obtaining a certificate of merit
Interviewing witnesses who observed the negligence or medical error
Investigating the healthcare worker’s background for any history of medical malpractice
Collecting evidence to prove medical malpractice occurred
Negotiating with the other side for a fair settlement
Taking the case to trial when necessary

Essentially, a medical malpractice attorney will handle all the details of your legal claim while you recover from your injuries.

Compensation in a Medical Malpractice Case

Compensation in medical malpractice cases is meant to restore the victim, or make you whole again. Like all personal injury cases in Kentucky, there are two types of compensation available in medical malpractice claims. These are economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are those that have an actual dollar value. These types of damages are easy to calculate and determine by collecting invoices, bills, and receipts that show specific costs.

Economic damages can provide compensation for:

Medical expenses
Future treatment costs
Lost income
Loss of earning capacity
Loss of household services

Non-economic damages provide compensation for losses that do not have an actual dollar value. These damages include:

Pain and suffering
Loss of companionship
Disfigurement
Emotional distress

Due to the fact that these damages do not have a concrete dollar value, they are much more difficult to calculate. A medical malpractice attorney in Kentucky can help those hurt determine the amount of these damages and demand full compensation for all losses suffered.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice

Although medical malpractice occurs any time a patient is hurt by a healthcare worker who fails to provide a reasonable standard of care, there are many different types of medical negligence. The most common include:

Misdiagnosis: Doctors are expected to perform the proper tests and the right examinations to properly diagnose a patient. When they fail to do so and mistake one condition for another, the proper treatment can be delayed and patients can suffer great harm as their condition becomes worse.
Failure to diagnose: This is the worst type of misdiagnosis. When a doctor fails to diagnose a condition and the proper diagnosis is never made, the patient never receives the proper treatment. This can have the worst consequences, including death when the condition that is not diagnosed is a chronic or terminal disease, such as cancer.
Surgical errors: Mistakes made during surgery occur more often than people think. These errors could include leaving medical equipment inside a patient’s body cavity, puncturing internal organs, performing surgery on the wrong site, and more. These errors often have terrible, long-term consequences for patients.
Birth injuries: These injuries are traumatic and devastating to infants and their parents. They can be a result of medical negligence before, during, and after labor and delivery. Birth injuries include brain injuries, broken bones, nerve damage, and conditions such as cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy. These injuries are often preventable and can have lifelong consequences for children who suffer from them. These injuries and conditions could also be a result of negligent prenatal care.
Medication errors: When medication errors occur, they can have disastrous impacts. These mistakes hurt millions of Americans every year, and many of them are right here in Kentucky. These mistakes occur when a prescription is inaccurate, or when a drug is administered incorrectly. Patients may get too much or too little of a medication they need, or they may be prescribed the wrong medication.
Anesthesia errors: Anesthesiologists are responsible for properly administering anesthesia and monitoring patients while they are under anesthesia. Anesthesia mistakes include inaccurate dosages and failing to monitor patients. When a person receives too much anesthesia, he or she can suffer from oxygen deprivation, which can lead to permanent brain damage. When there is not enough anesthesia administered, patients may wake up during surgery and experience unnecessary pain.
Emergency room errors: People visit emergency rooms when they are in need of urgent care. When they are kept waiting, the proper treatment is delayed. There can also be mistakes made in triage, a failure to obtain a proper medical history, or failing to take certain information into consideration, such as overlooking an allergy to certain medication.

Clearly, there are many different types of medical malpractice that can occur when a person requires treatment for an illness or injury. When a medical mistake occurs, it is crucial that injured patients speak to a Kentucky medical malpractice attorney who can help.

Contact our law firm now for your free consultation.

Kentucky Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

Kentucky, like all other states, has a statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims. This is the amount of time injured patients have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you do not file your claim within this time limit, the courts will throw out your claim and you will be barred from receiving any compensation.

In Kentucky, the statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims is only one year from the date of injury. There are some exceptions to this, though. If your injury or illness is not discovered right away, injured patients have one year from the date of discovery to file a medical malpractice claim. The date of discovery is the date the injury caused by medical malpractice was discovered or should have been discovered.

So, for example, if a patient’s cancer is misdiagnosed, it could take months for the patient to discover he or she was not properly diagnosed. In that case, a patient who becomes even sicker has one year from the date he or she discovered the misdiagnosis to file a claim.

Another exception to the statute of limitations is when the victim of medical malpractice is younger than 18. In these cases, parents can file a claim on behalf of the child, in which the statute of limitations of one year stands. However, the child can also wait until after his or her 18th birthday to file a claim. In these cases, the child still has one year after the 18th birthday to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

If a patient died as a result of medical malpractice, a family member may be able to file a wrongful death claim. Loved ones then have two years from the date of death to file a claim.

Before filing your claim, an attorney must gather medical records, obtain a certificate of merit, talk to expert witnesses, and more. All of this is crucial to proving your claim, but it all takes time. This is why it is so important that anyone injured by a healthcare worker speaks to a Kentucky medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.

Get a Free Consultation: 877-809-5352 Contact Us Online

Talk to Our Kentucky Medical Malpractice Lawyers Now

If you have been a victim of medical malpractice, you should not try to deal with this difficult situation on your own. These are some of the most complicated personal injury claims, and most victims find the process extremely overwhelming.

At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, our Kentucky medical malpractice attorneys can help. We will reach out to our network of medical experts and handle every part of the process to take the pressure off you. Our skilled lawyers will fight for the full and fair compensation you are owed ─ and the justice you deserve. Contact us now to schedule your free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.

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Testimonial

“Kelly Bentley and Allison sparks are awesome and they helped me win my case! Definitely recommend them I can’t thank them enough!”

Review by: Kayla S.
Date published: 2022
Rating: ★★★★★ 5 / 5 stars

Kentucky Medical Malpractice Attorney