Were you harmed because a medical provider in Lake County, Illinois made a mistake? Contact the award-winning team at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers for legal advice. Medical malpractice cases are almost always tough to prove. An experienced Lake County medical malpractice lawyer can help you maximize your compensation. Call us at (847) 513-9582.
We have over 64 years of experience advocating on behalf of injured clients and their families. When life-changing mistakes occur, we’re dedicated to holding those responsible accountable. To date, we’ve recovered over $125 million in settlements and verdicts.
You don’t have to let a negligent doctor off the hook for their mistakes. Call our law offices in Lake County, Illinois to learn how a lawyer can help. We offer a free case review, so don’t hesitate to reach out for legal help.
Why Should I Hire Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers to Help With a Medical Malpractice Claim in Lake County, IL?
From day one, your doctor will have a team of insurance adjusters and defense lawyers protecting them. They handle medical negligence cases every single day. When it comes to minimizing insurance payouts to victims, they know every trick in the book.
Hiring an experienced Lake County personal injury attorney at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers sets you up for recovering the full compensation you deserve. For more than three decades, clients have trusted our team to stand up to powerful insurance companies on their behalf.
We’ve succeeded because, in every case, our clients can count on us to:
- Conduct our own investigation
- Compile the evidence needed to prove your case
- Hire respected experts to testify about your doctor’s mistake and how it’s impacted your life
- Document and value your damages
- Reject any unfair settlement offers
- Negotiate to secure the full compensation award you deserve
Our Lake County medical malpractice lawyers don’t back down from a fight. We’ll reject any unfair insurance offer and take your case to trial if needed. To learn more about how we can put our skills to work for you, call for a free case review today.
What is a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Illinois?
Medical providers are responsible for protecting one of our most important assets: our health and well-being. Most of us don’t have the medical training to know whether their treatment advice is accurate.
That’s why medical malpractice laws hold all healthcare professionals to certain standards.
Those standards are developed by the medical community itself. When a doctor fails to satisfy expected standards and a patient is harmed, the patient can pursue compensation via a medical malpractice lawsuit.
While medical providers can make any number of errors at any stage in the treatment process, some of the most common types of cases we handle involve:
- Surgical errors, including wrong-site surgery and unnecessary delays in performing surgery
- Hospital negligence
- Radiology errors
- Misdiagnosis
- Cancer misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Failure to diagnose
- Anesthesia errors
- Prescription medication errors
- Emergency room errors
- Birth injuries
- Nursing errors
These types of mistakes can cause a patient to suffer unnecessary trauma. They can also be difficult to recognize. If you suspect you were a victim of medical negligence, call our law firm today. Your consultation is free, so there’s no harm in learning about your legal options.
How Common is Medical Malpractice in Illinois?
According to some studies, about 400,000 patients suffer some type of preventable harm in hospitals each year. These studies, however, only account for medical errors in hospitals. Thousands of patients are harmed due to mistakes in medical clinics, labs, and other facilities.
In Illinois alone, insurance companies have paid out over $10.5 billion in settlements since 2017. That puts Illinois at number six on the list of states with the highest medical malpractice payouts.
How Much Money Should I Expect From My Lake County Medical Malpractice Case?
There’s no simple or fast answer to this question. Every case hinges on the unique facts involved.
Some of the most important facts include:
- The nature of the harm you suffered
- Whether your injuries were minor or severe
- The cost of your current medical treatment and your need for future care
- The value of your lost wages
- Whether you’ll return to work in the same earning capacity
- How the injury has damaged your quality of life and expected lifespan
- The nature of the medical error
Some mistakes can’t be fixed. Mistakes that result in more permanent and significant harm tend to lead to higher settlements and verdicts.
With that said, having an experienced attorney review your case can be one of the most important things you ever do. If the insurance company is offering you a deal, your lawyer can help you understand whether it fairly accounts for your damages.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Malpractice in Lake County?
Victims of medical negligence can seek compensation from negligent doctors, hospitals, and any other parties who share legal responsibility.
Your compensation award may include both economic damages and non-economic damages to help you deal with:
- Past medical bills
- Future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Nursing care
- Rehabilitation
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of companionship
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Reduced life expectancy
You deserve a compensation award that fully accounts for the harm you have experienced. Any loss you’ve suffered should be accounted for. Our Lake County medical malpractice attorneys know how to help you prove your damages. Contact us today to start building your case.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Illinois?
Your attorneys’ fees will depend entirely on how much money your lawyer recovers. Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers, like most law firms, uses the contingency fee model. The amount you pay is “contingent” on the amount your attorney wins in your case.
You’ll agree to pay a percentage of your compensation at the outset. That fee typically ranges between 33% and 40%.
Can Comparative Fault Impact the Value of My Lake County Medical Malpractice Claim?
You probably didn’t “contribute” to the doctor’s mistake. Shared fault in medical malpractice cases tends to be relevant when your doctor is accusing you of making your condition worse.
For example, assume your doctor misdiagnosed your disease, and so it became worse. In the aftermath, you failed to follow the doctor’s orders, creating additional harm. Your doctor’s insurance company may claim that you share blame for the final result.
Illinois has a modified comparative negligence law with a 51% bar to recovery. You can recover partial compensation if you were also negligent, and only lose your right to damages if you were mostly responsible.
What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Medical Malpractice Case in Illinois?
Victims of medical malpractice have the burden of proof. You’ll have to prove that your medical provider failed to provide the level of care that a reasonable, trained doctor would have under the circumstances.
More specifically, you must prove:
- You were the defendant’s patient, and so they owed you a legal duty of care
- They failed to satisfy expected standards, so they breached their duty
- That breach of duty caused you to suffer some type of harm
- The nature and value of the damages you suffered
To win your case, you must establish the “medical standard of care” that applies in your case. The medical standard represents the level of care you should have received. Once you establish the medical standard, you’ll also have to show exactly how your doctor deviated from that standard.
As you can imagine, establishing these elements is difficult. Expert testimony will be critical to your case. Before your case can proceed, you’ll be required to submit an affidavit of merit prepared by a medical expert. That affidavit will contain detailed information about how the doctor deviated from the relevant standard.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After a Medical Mistake in Illinois?
Under Illinois law, you have just two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Typically, the statute of limitations starts running on the date the mistake happened.
A discovery rule applies in medical negligence cases. If you didn’t discover the error immediately, the clock starts ticking on the date you knew, or reasonably should have known, about the damage.
Still, that doesn’t mean you have an unlimited amount of time. Illinois also has a statute of repose. Even if you didn’t discover the mistake immediately, you can’t bring a medical malpractice claim more than four years after the error occurred.
Contact an Experienced Lake County Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation
You trusted your doctor with your health. Now, you’re suffering because they made a mistake. Our experienced Lake County medical malpractice attorney can help you fight to hold them responsible.
Our team at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers knows how to force the negligent doctor to make you whole again, to the fullest extent possible. Give us a call to set up a free consultation and discuss your case today.
