Louisville Medical Malpractice Attorney
Medical negligence claims are factually and medically complex, expensive to bring, and often difficult to win. In order to successfully prosecute a medical malpractice case, a plaintiff must typically prove four distinct elements: (1) a duty; (2) a breach of the "standard of care"; (3) damages; and (4) causation.
Legal Duty
This is the least frequently litigated element in medical malpractice cases. Once a physician, hospital, or other healthcare provider agrees to undertake a patient's care, that provider has a responsibility to render the patient reasonable care.
How Kentucky Law Defines the Standard of Care
The "standard of care" means that when providing medical or health care, your physician, hospital, and other medical providers must exercise the same degree of skill expected of a reasonably competent physician acting under same or similar circumstances. If a physician, hospital, or other medical provider's actions do not meet this high threshold, it is possible that those actions may have breached the standard of care.A deviation from the standard of care may occur when a medical provider's treatment harms a patient, or when a provider fails to appropriately treat a patient. In virtually all medical negligence cases, a plaintiff must introduce expert testimony to prove that a medical provider's actions fell below the standard of care.
However, simply because a patient does not get better, or there is a bad outcome, does not automatically mean that the provider was negligent. All medical procedures carry the risk of negative complications, and a bad outcome may not be the basis for a winning medical malpractice claim. Similarly, even if a physician or other provider's errors in clinical judgment result in patient harm, there may not be grounds for a successful medical negligence claim.
Seth's years of firsthand experience defending physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, and physical therapists have given him a wide breadth of knowledge about countless medical issues, and a proven ability to evaluate potential cases' merits. If you believe that you or loved one may be a medical malpractice victim, please call Seth Gladstein, a medical malpractice lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, at 502-855-4177, or toll-free at 800-991-0474, for a free consultation. You can also email Seth. Please call now, because your time to file a medical negligence claim may be limited.
Kentucky Medical Malpractice Damages
In a Kentucky medical malpractice action, like any other personal injury lawsuit, there are two types of monetary damages: economic and noneconomic. Economic damages compensate injured people for monetary losses and expenses, which they have incurred, or are reasonably likely to incur in the future, and result from another's negligence. The most common types of economic damages, also known as "special damages," include:- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost past earnings
- Destruction of the power to labor and earn money in the future. This is also known as future lost earnings.
Noneconomic damages compensate people for non-monetary losses and injuries they have already suffered, or are reasonably likely to suffer in the future. These damages may include:
- Past and future physical pain and suffering
- Past and future mental pain and suffering
- Physical disfigurement
- Loss of spousal consortium, or the intangible relations that exist between a married couple, such as love, affection, companionship, and sexual relations
- Loss of a child's consortium, or the intangible relations that exist between a minor child and his or her parents, such as love, affection, and companionship
In his career, Kentucky medical malpractice attorney, Seth Gladstein, has worked with numerous damages experts, including psychiatrists, physical medicine physicians, neurologists, economists, life care planners, and structured settlement consultants. If you believe that you or a loved one have sustained injuries and damages possibly resulting from a physician, hospital, or other healthcare provider's negligence, please call Kentucky medical malpractice lawyer, Seth Gladstein and the Gladstein Law Firm at 502-855-4177, or toll-free at 800-991-0474, to schedule a free consultation. You can also email Seth.
Causation in Kentucky Medical Malpractice Cases
To win a medical malpractice action, the plaintiff must demonstrate a cause and effect relationship between a provider's alleged negligence and the injuries suffered. This is known as causation, and is often the most difficult element to prove. In most medical malpractice cases, a plaintiff also must introduce expert testimony to establish causation.The following fact pattern illustrates how causation applies in medical negligence cases. For example, Physician A orders a chest x-ray for a patient. The study shows a small lesion in one of his lungs. However, Physician A fails to recognize the lesion, or order appropriate follow-up studies. Two years later, Physician B orders another chest x-ray, which now shows Stage IV lung cancer. The patient subsequently files a medical malpractice case against Physician A.
In this fact pattern, the patient may only recover if he proves through expert testimony that had Physician A diagnosed and treated the lung cancer two years earlier, he would not have developed Stage IV cancer, and that the outcome would have been different. If, on the other hand, the patient does not prove that the cancer could have been treated, or that it would not have spread even if timely treated, he cannot recover. That is because the patient would not have demonstrated a cause-and-effect relationship between Physician A's alleged negligence (failing to diagnose and treat the lung cancer) and his claimed damages (incurable lung cancer).
Seth's experience defending providers in numerous medical specialties has provided him with a wide knowledge base. A Louisville medical malpractice attorney, Seth Gladstein has personally handled cases involving the following medical issues:
- Anesthesia malpractice
- Birth injuries
- Cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery malpractice
- Dental malpractice
- Emergency room errors
- Failing to diagnose cancer
- Failure to diagnose heart attacks
- Failure to diagnose pulmonary embolism
- Failure to diagnose strokes
- Gastric bypass surgery errors
- Internal and family medicine malpractice
- Neurology and neurosurgery malpractice
- Nursing errors and mistakes
- Orthopedic negligence
- Pediatric malpractice
- Prescription drug and medication errors
- Psychiatric malpractice
- Radiology malpractice
- Surgery errors
- Urology malpractice
He has also worked with some of the nation's leading medical experts. If you believe that you or a loved one may be a medical malpractice victim, contact Kentucky medical malpractice attorney, Seth Gladstein. You may call Seth and Gladstein Law Firm at 502-855-4177, or toll free 800-991-0474. You may also email Seth.
