Doctors, surgeons, nurses, and other medical professionals have an obligation to provide quality care that meets accepted standards. When they fail to do so and you are harmed, medical malpractice law may allow you to seek compensation. Medical mistakes can have devastating consequences. Our Seattle Malpractice Law Firm are committed to ensuring that you receive all the damages you are entitled to.
Medical Misdiagnosis
When doctors misdiagnose medical conditions, patients can suffer severe consequences. If you were harmed by a doctor or healthcare provider in Seattle, WA, our legal team can help you recover fair compensation.
Health care providers have a duty to provide patients with quality treatment that meets accepted standards. Any injury a patient sustains as a result of a healthcare professional failing to meet this duty is considered malpractice.
To file a medical malpractice claim, you must prove that the healthcare provider owed you a duty of care and breached this duty by causing your injury. You must also show that the injury would not have occurred if the healthcare professional had fulfilled his or her duties properly. Unlike other types of personal injury claims, medical malpractice lawsuits are more complicated than ordinary cases. They require an attorney with the knowledge and experience to successfully litigate medical malpractice cases. The law requires an attorney to conduct a reasonable inquiry into a client’s case before filing suit.
Wrongful Death
The death of a loved one due to another person or company’s negligent act can be devastating for families. In addition to the loss of a beloved family member, these tragedies often cause significant financial losses for survivors. A successful wrongful death lawsuit can compensate families for the loss of income and other financial damages.
Medical malpractice cases are complicated due to the complex nature of medicine and the intricacies of standard care practices. It is essential to work with an experienced Seattle malpractice lawyer who understands the medical field.
A lawyer with knowledge of the medical field can help you determine all liable parties. He or she can also help you calculate your losses and document non-economic damages like pain and suffering. A lawyer can also protect you from discussing your case with a liable party’s insurance company, as they will use these conversations against you in court. They can also help you navigate the unfamiliar litigation process.
Failure to Diagnose
The definition of diagnostic error includes a patient’s failure to receive an accurate and timely explanation of their health problem. This definition focuses on outcomes rather than on individual components of the diagnostic process, reflecting the belief that patients are best served when a diagnosis is based on an iterative process that solidifies over time.
A significant portion of diagnostic errors involve failures in information gathering. These may include failures to elicit adequate patient history; failures to order appropriate tests; and failures to interpret, weigh or prioritize test results. CRICO benchmarking studies found that in ambulatory care, 55 percent of missed or delayed diagnoses were due to one or more of these types of errors (Gandhi et al., 2006).
Similarly, in the emergency department, diagnostic errors are frequently associated with claims for negligence. However, malpractice claims data are only a small part of the picture; they reflect only those cases that were actually litigated, and may be biased toward more serious diagnoses.
Statute of Limitations
In Washington state, medical malpractice claims must be filed within three years of the underlying injury. While this may seem like a long time, it is important to remember that many medical mistakes are not immediately apparent, and that victims only have a short window of opportunity to file their claim before the statute of limitations expires.
A medical professional has a legal duty to provide treatment that adheres to the accepted standard of care. A breach of this duty results in injuries to patients.
While the legal standard of care varies by specialty, it includes using appropriate and accepted techniques to treat patients without harming them. In addition, healthcare providers must inform their patients of the risks and costs associated with a procedure and obtain informed consent before beginning treatment.
In some cases, certain events will pause or “toll” the statute of limitations—for example, when a foreign object is left inside a patient after a procedure or when a healthcare provider commits fraud or concealment and intentionally delays discovery. Our Seattle attorneys understand that these types of events can be complicated and require careful evaluation.