When doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other healthcare providers fail to act with reasonable care, mistakes can happen that can lead to complications, injuries, or even death. At Parrish DeVaughn Injury Lawyers, we fight for victims of medical negligence in Oklahoma and hold the physician or facility who caused your injury accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.
If you or someone you love was the victim of a medical error, contact our Oklahoma City injury attorneys now. We know the law, and our experienced legal team is ready to investigate your claim and help you get the compensation you deserve.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider, like a doctor, nurse, or hospital staff, fails to treat patients with an acceptable standard of care. This can happen under various circumstances, such as:
- Birth Injuries: Injuries at birth are typically caused by negligent caregivers during the delivery process or early prenatal care. Birth injuries can affect both the mother and the newborn and include fractures, Erb’s palsy, perinatal asphyxia, cerebral palsy, and maternal bleeding.
- Delayed Diagnosis: This happens when a healthcare provider fails to recognize the signs of a condition in time, leading to worsened health outcomes. For instance, a delayed diagnosis of a heart attack due to ignoring early symptoms can result in irreversible heart damage.
- Failure to Treat: This occurs when a doctor recognizes a condition but fails to implement the appropriate treatment, leading to a deterioration of the patient’s condition. An example is a patient with diagnosed high blood pressure not being prescribed medication, resulting in a preventable stroke.
- Infections: These are often caused by poor hygiene and sterilization practices in healthcare settings, leading to preventable diseases. A common scenario is a patient developing a surgical site infection because the surgical instruments were improperly sterilized.
- Anesthesia Errors: Mistakes made during the administration of anesthesia, such as incorrect dosages, can cause severe complications or death. An example includes using too much anesthesia, causing a patient to experience prolonged recovery times or permanent brain damage.
- Prescription Drug Errors: These errors involve prescribing the wrong medication or dosage, potentially causing harm to the patient. For instance, prescribing a dose too high for a patient’s condition can lead to an overdose, causing severe side effects or toxicity.
- Surgical Mistakes: Errors during surgery can include operating on the wrong site or leaving instruments inside the patient, causing further health issues. For instance, a surgeon removing the wrong organ can have devastating consequences for the patient’s health and quality of life.
Understanding Medical Malpractice Law in Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, medical malpractice laws aim to uphold accountability among healthcare professionals and safeguard patient well-being. If a provider causes harm to a patient due to negligence or substandard care, the injured individual has the right to file a compensation claim.
Medical malpractice laws in Oklahoma encompass the following key elements:
- Negligence: To qualify as medical malpractice, negligence must have occurred. Oklahoma statutes define this as professional negligence, which is the failure of a healthcare provider to meet the established standard of care, leading to patient injury. Negligence is determined by assessing whether the provider’s actions followed acceptable medical practices.
- Standards of Care: This term refers to the level of skill, expertise, and care possessed and exercised by medical professionals under similar circumstances. Oklahoma medical malpractice law requires an evaluation of this element based on what a reasonably competent healthcare provider in the same field would have done.
- Statute of Limitations: In Oklahoma, you have two years from the date you discovered or should have discovered the injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Under this time limit, you must act quickly after suffering medical malpractice to protect your right to compensation.
Criteria for a Valid Malpractice Case
Filing a medical malpractice claim can offer vital financial support after experiencing harm from a healthcare provider. However, winning your case requires proving the following legal elements:
- Duty of Care: You must establish there was a doctor-patient relationship between the healthcare professional who committed malpractice and yourself. Generally, this means establishing they agreed to diagnose or treat you by showing medical records or proof of appointment.
- Breach of Duty: You must prove the caregiver failed in their duty of care. In a medical malpractice case, this means showing they failed to meet the acceptable standards of care within their practice area. This generally requires expert medical testimony from a professional in the same field.
For instance, if your case involves a birth injury, your attorney can seek expert testimony from an obstetrician, neonatologist, or pediatric neurologist.
- Causation: You must establish a link between the breach of duty and the injuries you received. Generally, this requires expert medical testimony to establish causation and rule out other possibilities, such as pre-existing conditions or other medical issues.
- Damages: You must prove the extent of the harm and damages you suffered due to the caregiver’s breach of duty. For instance, you’ll need to list medical expenses incurred to correct the harm, lost wages and earning capability, pain and suffering, and other losses.
Potential Compensation in Medical Malpractice Cases
When initiating a medical malpractice claim, your attorney from Parrish DeVaughn Injury Lawyers can assist you in pursuing various types of compensation:
Economic Damages
These damages compensate for quantifiable monetary losses you incurred due to medical malpractice, including:
- Medical costs like hospital stays, surgeries, and medication
- Lost wages, including lost earning capacity and future wages
- Costs of medical equipment or modifications needed for recovery, such as wheelchairs or home modifications
- Additional expenses related to the injury, like travel expenses for medical appointments and home care services.
Non-Economic Damages
This type of damages refers to compensation for non-monetary harm. The most common types of non-economic damages are pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. If your medical malpractice case impacted your relationship with your spouse or partner, you may also be able to claim damages for loss of consortium.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney can evaluate the extent of your damages and estimate a dollar amount for these damages. Typically, this is done by multiplying your economic damages by a number between 1.5 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries and their effect on your life.
Fighting for Medical Malpractice Victims in Oklahoma
Doctors, hospitals, and healthcare companies have powerful legal teams ready to defend them from medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one is suffering due to a medical provider’s failure to provide adequate care, consult our medical malpractice attorneys at Parrish DeVaughn Injury Lawyers.
At Parrish DeVaughn, we have the knowledge and resources to investigate medical malpractice claims, and we’re ready to stand up to the doctor or hospital who injured you. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to find out if you may have a case and learn your next legal steps.
