Louisville Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Louisville Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Although patients trust doctors with their lives, doctors and healthcare facilities can be prone to making mistake and causing devastating personal injuries. Miscommunications, surgical malpractice, lack of sanitation, and negligent or incompetent physicians can all harm unsuspecting patients. It is a physician’s duty to fulfill the accepted standards of care when treating a patient. Anything less, resulting in patient harm or death, is malpractice. At Meinhart & Manning, PLLC, our Louisville medical malpractice lawyers are dedicated to helping families fight back, prevent future injustices, and seek just compensation.

Louisville Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Why Choose our Louisville Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Your Claim?

It is very difficult to take on a medical malpractice claim alone. Navigating laws such as statute of limitations, mandatory medical review panel, expert witness assistance, and other complex aspects of a case requires help from a lawyer. A Louisville medical malpractice attorney at Meinhart & Manning, PLLC can take care of all aspects of your claim while you focus on your personal healing.

Your Louisville personal injury attorney will make sure the doctor or hospital does not take advantage of you during settlement negotiations, and even take your case to court if necessary for full and fair compensation.

Testimonial

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Chris and his associates came to our house during a family low time and crisis. He gave our spirits a lift, not with promises, but with his high level of confidence. While working together with Chris, I felt he put the well being of our son (his client) first. He provided my wife and me with details of a legal case, issues, and facts while explaining both good and bad outcomes. I never felt at any time that discussing money was his first priority, rather, the business at hand was essentially first.

-Winifred M.

Case Results

CLAIM

Failure to Diagnose and Wrongful Death

VERDICT

$7.44M

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

CLAIM

Anesthesia Error and Wrongful Death

VERDICT

$1.1M

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

CLAIM

Failure to Diagnose and Delayed Treatment

VERDICT

$1M

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

More Case Results

Louisville Medical Malpractice Attorney Resources 

What is Medical Malpractice in Louisville, KY?

Medical malpractice is a physician or another health care professional failing to meet the accepted standards of care in the medical industry, resulting in harm to the patient. When a doctor or hospital’s negligent act or omission injures or kills a patient, the victim or his/her family has grounds to file a civil claim.

A doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, dentist, dermatologist, orthopedist, hospital, emergency room, birthing center, or any other health care personnel or entity may serve as a defendant in a med mal case. A medical malpractice claim in Kentucky could result in payment for related damages, including medical bills and pain and suffering.

How Often Does Medical Malpractice Happen?

Most patients trust their doctors. They do not imagine that the physician could be capable of such a degree of negligence as to cause serious injury, illness, or death. Unfortunately, medical malpractice is relatively common.

Unintentional injuries are the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, studies have suggested that in reality, medical errors are the third leading cause of death. An analysis of eight years of medical death rate data showed that over 250,000 deaths per year occur because of medical malpractice in the United States.

This would unseat unintentional injuries on the leading causes of death list, which accounted for 161,374 deaths in 2016. John Hopkins researchers explain that the reason for the disparity is that health statistics do not differentiate between medical errors and other deaths on death certificates. The researchers advocate for a change that would lead to better medical malpractice classification. Due to a lack of standardized methods for collecting national medical malpractice statistics, many patients do not appreciate the full extent of the risk. While many doctors are prudent and safe, many others are not. However, the majority of medical errors stem from systemic problems such as poor communication, lack of safety nets, and uncoordinated care. Medical care gone wrong kills tens of thousands of patients every year in the U.S. alone. Researchers say the death toll translates into 9.5% of all U.S. deaths each year.

What Do You Have to Prove to Win a Medical Malpractice Case in Louisville?

Even in cases involving blatant medical malpractice, the laws in Kentucky place a burden of proof on the victim or his or her attorney. It is the plaintiff’s side of the case that must prove the defendant’s negligence to obtain financial compensation. Proving a case is much easier with help from a lawyer with experience in the field. The plaintiff’s attorney must demonstrate, through a preponderance of evidence, four main elements to win a case.

  • A duty to exercise a reasonable standard of care existed for the deceased

Your med mal lawyer will need to show that a doctor-patient relationship existed at the time of the medical malpractice event. This relationship would show that the defendant owed you a professional duty of medical care.

  • The defendant violated a standard of care to the deceased

Your Louisville surgical malpractice attorney will then need to establish that the defendant breached his or her duties of care through some act or omission. Proving this element may take testimony from a medical expert confirming that the physician or hospital was negligent.

  • The defendant’s negligence caused a wrongful death

Third, your Louisville medical negligence attorney will draw connections between the defendant’s negligence or carelessness and the injuries in question. A negative health outcome alone will not be enough to prove your case. Your negligence lawyer will need proof of a connection to the defendant’s breach of duty.

  • Real damages occurred

Finally, your Louisville medical malpractice lawyer will use medical bills, eyewitness reports, medical experts, and depositions to show that you suffered significant damages because of medical negligence. Damages may include physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, hardship, disability, loss of income, and medical bills. On top of these four main elements of proof, claimants and their injury lawyers will have to navigate a complex web of medical malpractice laws according to state statutes.

Like most states, Kentucky has special rules and requirements for bringing medical malpractice claims. Working with a Louisville negligence lawyer enables a plaintiff to understand these rules and to follow them carefully – ultimately expediting the legal process and improving the odds of securing a settlement or verdict.Louisville medical malpractice attorneys

Understanding Kentucky’s Medical Malpractice Laws

To bring a valid claim of medical malpractice in Kentucky courts, you must follow all the rules and procedures for filing. There is a specific courtroom in Louisville that will hear your case depending on its value. This process involves a lot of red tape and paperwork you must go through to file your med mal claim against a doctor, surgeon, hospital, and/or other party.

Working with one of our Louisville medical malpractice attorneys takes this burden off of your shoulders, as we understand how to navigate all applicable statutes. Two of the most important Kentucky laws for medical malpractice lawyers are:

Medical Malpractice Claim filing deadline:

Unlike states that give two to five years after the medical malpractice incident to file a claim, Kentucky’s statute of limitations is one year. The clock starts ticking the day you discover your injuries, which might not be the same day you sustained them. For example, if you discover a surgeon left a cotton swab in your body after five years, you have one year from the date of discovery to file, not from the date of the surgery. These fine details can be best identified by an experienced Louisville medical malpractice attorney.

Medical Review Panel Requirement:

The only way a Kentucky court will hear a medical malpractice claim is if the injured patient files a complaint document with a medical review panel first. The medical review panel will look at the facts of the case, check the patient’s medical history, hear expert testimony, and then give an opinion about the case’s merit. The only way to avoid the review panel is if all parties elect to skip it.

The filing of the complaint with the panel tolls the statute of limitations clock. Beyond the medical review panel, an expert witness who is willing to testify in support of your malpractice claims can provide a huge courtroom advantage. An expert witness should be a professional who works in the same or similar capacity as the defendant and can therefore help you prove a reasonable and prudent professional would not have done the same thing the defendant did, resulting in catastrophic injuries.

Working with the Louisville medical malpractice lawyers on our legal team will help you adhere to all the various rules and laws involved in filing your claim and improve your odds of receiving compensation.

What are the Different Types of Medical Malpractice Claims?

“Medical malpractice” can refer to virtually anything that falls outside the realm of responsibility for a doctor or healthcare provider, resulting in patient harm. Common errors that can qualify as medical malpractice include:

Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis (Contact a Louisville failure to diagnose lawyer)

A misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may seem like the same things, but they are all distinctly different. Misdiagnosis refers to a medical professional providing a diagnosis, but that diagnosis not being the correct one. A delayed diagnosis could be the result of a misdiagnosis, but it could also occur if a doctor fails to make a diagnosis at all right away. Anytime there is a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, this typically means that a patient is not being treated for their actual illness or injury, which can lead to the issue becoming much worse than it was or should have become.

Medication Mistakes

Medication mistakes can occur at various levels in the healthcare profession. This can include at the level of the doctor prescribing the medication, in the pharmacy when dispensing medications, or at the provider level when giving medications to a patient. Some of the issues that can affect a patient include being given the wrong medication, given the wrong dosage of a medication, or not being given the medication they need at all. Medication errors can occur inside the hospital, at a doctor’s office, or at home after a patient picks up their prescription.

Surgical Errors

Surgical mistakes are not as common as other types of errors, but they have the potential to be incredibly devastating when they do occur. These mistakes can include leaving foreign objects behind inside a person’s body, operating on the wrong body part, operating on the wrong side of the body, failing to take infection prevention protocol seriously, and more. Invasive procedures significantly increase the risk to a patient.

Anesthesia Errors

Patients undergo anesthesia on a regular basis, whether for surgery or some other type of procedure. Anesthesiologists have very complex jobs, and they must continually maintain the medications as the procedures go on. This includes watching a patient’s vital signs for any signs of distress.

Emergency Room Errors

The emergency room is a busy place, but this is also where many medical errors occur. Because doctors, nurses, and other emergency department staff are often overworked and overwhelmed, this can lead to mistakes being made, such as a misdiagnosis, medication error, etc.

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries can affect a mother and the child. These injuries can occur if medical professionals fail to adequately monitor a mother and baby before, during, and after birth. Some common birth injuries occur because of the misuse of birth tools such as vacuum devices or forceps, failing to perform a C-section when one is indicated, and failing to monitor patient vital signs.

Anesthesiologist Negligence & Medical Malpractice in Kentucky

An anesthesia error is a form of medical malpractice. This means it’s something that a reasonable and prudent medical professional likely would have prevented under the same circumstances. While not all anesthesia-related harm comes down to someone else’s negligence, it often does.

It is the anesthesiologist’s job to conduct a full interview of the patient prior to a surgical procedure. The anesthesiologist must review the patient’s medical history, current medications, weight, and many other factors to calculate the precise correct dosage.

During the procedure, the anesthesiologist must carefully monitor the patient to make sure everything goes as planned. Warning signs that something is wrong, such as increased heart rate or lack of oxygen to the brain, should push the anesthesiologist into action to remedy the issue and prevent harm to the patient. Failure to attend to any of these job-related duties, causing patient harm, is medical malpractice. Medical negligence claims in Kentucky can involve general anesthesia, regional anesthesia, or local anesthesia.

Risks Relating to Anesthesia Errors and Medical Malpractice in Louisville, KY

Anesthetics can be potentially toxic. Anesthesia only works as intended with careful dosing, monitoring, and regulation. Even a minor error can make anesthesia dangerous or deadly to a patient. If an anesthesiologist becomes distracted, doesn’t have adequate training, miscalculates the dosage, fails to monitor the patient during surgery, or otherwise makes a mistake, it could result in several different injuries to the patient, including:

  • Intubation-related injuries. Tracheal damage and other harm can occur when the medical professional improperly intubates the patient to prepare for anesthesia.
  • Cardiovascular harm. Stroke or heart attack can occur under anesthesia, as a result of improper dosage.
  • Birth defects. If a mother undergoes surgery in the first or second trimester of pregnancy, there is a chance that the developing fetus could be subject to birth defects. Exposure to harmful anesthetic gases could result in birth defects or miscarriage.
  • Brain damage. If the brain does not receive enough oxygen due to too much anesthesia or another error, it can cause permanent brain damage.
  • Anesthesia awareness. Too little anesthesia can lead to a rare state called “anesthesia awareness,” in which the patient is aware of what’s happening but unable to speak or move. This can cause psychological trauma to the patient.
  • Coma or death. Brain damage or traumatic brain injury can cause coma or even death to a patient due to anesthesia errors.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for Medical Malpractice in Kentucky?

In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, different parties can be held accountable. From medical professionals including doctors and surgeons, to hospitals, nursing homes and health care agencies.

Based on the unique facts of each case, different individuals involved in a malpractice case can be held responsible for the damages caused. The following professionals and entities may be held accountable.

  • Medical hospitals
  • Psychiatric hospitals
  • Doctors
  • Surgeons
  • Dentists
  • Nurses

Can More Than One Party Be Held Responsible In a Medical Malpractice Case?

Yes – more than one party can be held responsible in a medical malpractice case. In certain situations, one party may not be fully responsible for the damages caused. When more than one party is responsible for damages, the responsible parties need to be held accountable for their actions.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky operates under comparative fault. Kentucky Revised Statutes 411.182 (2) states that:

“In determining the percentages of fault, the trier of fact shall consider both the nature of the conduct of each party at fault and the extent of the casual relation between the conduct and the damages claimed”.

Dependent on the percentage of fault attributed to a party, a party that is found to be partially responsible for the damages caused to the victim will be responsible for their portions of the damages.

In comparative fault states, fault can be applied to more than one party. Based on the severity of damages that each party was responsible for, a percentage of fault may be assigned to each party according to their responsibility for the damages caused.

What to Prepare for a Medical Malpractice Case in Louisville, KY

Although your Louisville med mal lawyer will do most of the preparation for your case on your behalf, you can cut down on costs and potentially shorten your case’s timeline by contributing to the case where you can.

Knowing what to prepare for your first meeting with a lawyer, your first deposition, and mediation or a medical malpractice trial can help you arrive fully prepped and ready to go. Preparing the right documents, records, and statements on your own can help your attorney quickly begin the fight for compensation.

  • Medical records. Call the hospital where the malpractice occurred and request copies of your medical records. These records could contain evidence of the malpractice, such as your complaints of chronic pain or other symptoms after a surgeon negligently left a foreign object behind, along with x-rays showing the object. Medical records can help your lawyer paint a full picture of your medical history and current state.
  • Hospital bills. Keep all invoices and hospital bills delivered to you, as well as receipts for any payments you make. Keep all receipts or bills relating to your case, including gas receipts for transportation to the doctor’s office, hotel bills for stays near specialists, payments for prescription medications, the price of making home or vehicle modifications to accommodate a disability, and bills for nursing care.
  • Proof of lost income. If the medical malpractice incident forced you to take time off work while you go to the doctor, undergo surgeries, or recover, gather copies of your time-off requests, paystubs, and any letters or emails between you and your employer. If your employer offered you a lower level job for less pay, for example, keep a copy of this communication. Evidence of lost wages can help you seek fair compensation for these losses.
  • Record of important details. As soon as you suspect medical malpractice, start documenting your experience. Record important details such as the date and time of the malpractice, the names of your doctor and anyone else in the room, the name of the hospital, what happened, what the physician or hospital said about the incident, and your personal journey (including pain and suffering). The more details you can give your lawyer, the better your odds of success.

Photographs of your injuries and copies of any correspondence with an insurance company could also help your claim. When you meet with your Louisville surgical malpractice attorney for the first time, he or she will help you understand what information will be helpful to gather. The law office can also conduct its own investigation and collection of evidence on your behalf.

Schedule Your Free Medical Malpractice Claim Consultation

To find out if you or a loved one have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit, contact the Louisville medical malpractice attorneys of Meinhart & Manning, PLLC today. Our Kentucky law firm offers free consultations for your case.

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