Q. What is medical malpractice?

The answer to this question is as complicated as the practice of medicine itself.  But in general, medical malpractice may have occurred  if a patient suffers injury or death because a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, anesthesiologist, or other practitioner  a medical treatment provider acted negligently or failed to act.  This is true even if the patient already suffered from a disease or injury when they sought treatment.

 

Following are a list of the most common medical errors that result in medical malpractice:

• Failure to diagnose and properly treat medical emergencies;

• Failure to diagnose and properly treat serious medical conditions

• Surgical mistakes, including improper amputations or the failure to remove all instruments, sponges, and other materials at the end of an operation;

• Prescribing the wrong  medication or ordering improper treatment or therapy;

• Delays in diagnosis that allow conditions or diseases to worsen—this is especially dangerous in cancer cases;

• Mistakes during labor that result in the death or profound disability of the child;

• Failure to advise properly advise a patient of the doctor’s diagnosis so they and their family can assess all treatment options;.

• Failure to obtain informed consent by not fully explaining the implications associated with a recommend treatment or therapy;

• Injury or death that occurs because a doctor or other practitioner has decided to abandon the patient and stop providing therapy or care.

 

Q. Who can be held accountable for medical malpractice?

In general, a medical malpractice claim can be brought against a licensed health care provider. This can include a person, corporation, facility or institution licensed by the state to provide health care or professional services, or an officer, employee, or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his employment. A claim can be brought against physicians, dentists, nurses, therapists, technicians, hospitals, pharmacists, and other practitioners.

 

Q. What are the criteria for determining if a doctor or other practitioner has committed malpractice?

A doctor that fails to act in the same manner as a reasonably prudent physician in the same field of medicine would act under the same circumstances may have committed malpractice. Nurses, therapists and other practitioners and the hospitals or clinics they work for may be held responsible for malpractice if  they failed to meet accepted standards of care in their particular field.  Under certain circumstances, a hospital in Ohio may be held liable for the negligent acts of  physicians who are not employed by the facility.

 

Q. Does signing a consent form waive my rights to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice?

No. Even if you signed a consent form, you did not consent to receive substandard medical care. A doctor`s failure to meet the acceptable standard of care is not the same as consenting to the normal risks of a procedure. In addition, the consent form may not have contained all relevant information or it may have been signed without adequate explanation.

 

Q. What is the statute of limitations in Ohio for a medical malpractice case?

In Ohio, victims or family members have one year from the date of injury or death to bring a claim. Because of this relatively short time frame it is important to contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Betras, Kopp, and Harshman the moment you believe you or a family member have become victims of medical malpractice.

 

Q. What type of compensation may victims receive in a medical malpractice case?

Compensation may be awarded for economic and non-economic losses including lost wages, lost work opportunities, medical bills, and past and future care expenses. Non-economic damages are assessed for pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life.

 

Q. Are there additional damages if medical malpractice results in death.

Yes.  If a family member dies, under Ohio's wrongful death statute, the decedent's spouse, children, parents, and sometimes siblings, may be awarded damages for the following:

• Loss of support from  the decedent;

• Loss of services of the decedent;

• Loss of society of the decedent;

• Loss of prospective inheritance to the decedent's heirs;

• Mental anguish incurred by the surviving spouse, dependent children, parents, or other next of kin.