Doctors, nurses, and medical facilities have a duty to adhere to the proper standard of care when diagnosing and treating injuries or diseases.
Our team of Minneapolis medical malpractice lawyers understand that it must be proven that a medical professional violated a standard of care and caused your injury. Medical malpractice cases are difficult and expensive to pursue.
It is important to hire a medical malpractice attorney that has the resources and expertise to succeed with these cases. If you have been harmed by a medical professional negligently failing to adhere to the proper standard of care, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and for the loss of your quality of life.
Our Minneapolis medical malpractice lawyers have been helping injured victims for over 38 years. Call us at (612) 333-4662 or contact online. You will sleep better knowing your case is in good hands.
The Difficulties of Medical Malpractice Cases
At Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC, we can only take medical malpractice cases that involve catastrophic injury or wrongful death. Medical malpractice cases require a significant amount of expertise in order to pursue and investigate successfully.
Our Minnesota personal injury lawyers must order records, hire an expert, and review medical literature to evaluate whether or not there is a case.
Get Your Medical Records
If you go to the medical facility where you were injured and request the records, this can greatly speed up the process of review when you contact us. We can often tell if there is a case worth investigating by just reviewing the records.
Goldenberg Lauricella Can Help
Minnesota and many other states require that a board-certified doctor in a similar specialty testify that your doctor violated a standard of care — in other words, that they did something that other doctors would not do. If we believe you have a case, we will hire the best possible expert to assist us.
True Story
“Mary” was a 32-year-old mom of two young children. Mary had a fever and was feeling weak. She went to an urgent care near her home. Instead of running procedural tests, the doctors diagnosed her with the flu and sent her home.
The next day, Mary felt worse and returned to urgent care presenting all the same symptoms in addition to a red rash. The urgent care staff ran some blood tests; however, the results would not be available for a few days. They proceeded to give her an IV before sending her home. Tragically, Mary died the next day.
After some time, the family contacted Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC and hired our attorneys to investigate this unusual situation. After obtaining the records and consulting with an expert, we discovered that Mary had died of an infection that had spread into her heart.
Our expert testified that Mary had a standard infection that should have been diagnosed immediately and treated with antibiotics, which would have prevented her death. After litigation, we were able to obtain a substantial settlement for Mary’s family.
Types of Malpractice Claims
Surgical Error Claims
When you undergo surgery, you are placing an extraordinary amount of trust in the surgical team performing the procedure. Although surgeons must complete extensive schooling and training before they are licensed to practice on patients, no area of medicine is perfect.
Every year, too many innocent Americans are severely injured or die as a result of negligence and misconduct during a surgical procedure.
Examples of surgical errors include:
- Leaving surgical instruments in patients
- Anesthesia errors, including failing to check for allergies and oxygen failures
- Puncturing, severing, or otherwise affecting surrounding nerves, muscles, and ligaments
Misdiagnosis & Failure to Diagnose Claims
When a physician doesn’t perform their required duties and gives you or a family member a wrong diagnosis, they may have committed medical negligence. Furthermore, if a physician diagnoses your symptoms improperly and your condition worsens because of this, it is the fault of the physician.
Both of these issues can cause simple illnesses and injuries to worsen and become life-threatening. Because of this, these are considered forms of medical malpractice and can be handled legally.
These errors can occur as a result of:
- Lack of effort by the physician
- Lack of testing
- Improper reading of test results
Nursing Home Neglect or Negligence Claims
When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you have an expectation that they will be properly treated and cared for. However, it is all too common for the elderly to be mistreated, neglected, and even abused while in nursing home care.
Nursing home injuries are often caused by understaffing. Our medical malpractice lawyers are familiar with federal laws that set strict staffing requirements for nursing homes and other care environments that receive compensation from Medicare and Medicaid. We can hold these institutions responsible for injuries that result from a lack of supervision.
Prescription Error Claims
Prescription drugs must be prescribed accurately and with care. Yet, doctors and pharmacies make thousands of errors per year in prescribing the wrong drug or the wrong dosage. These errors can result in:
- Overdose
- Horrible, permanent side-effects
- Death
When Does a Medical Error Become Medical Malpractice?
One of the reasons cases revolving around medical errors are so complicated is that not every mistake made by a doctor is considered negligent under the law. The law recognizes that surgery is a difficult and sensitive task, and even a careful, conscientious surgical team will still make mistakes. Instead, medical malpractice law operates on a “standard of care” system.
A standard of care is simply a method of diagnosis or treatment that a reasonable physician would be expected to utilize in a given situation.
In the case of surgical errors, this can mean that a medical professional is negligent in performing a procedure when something that surgeon did during the procedure is outside the standard of care. This might mean using a technique that is not considered to be safe or effective by the medical community or failing to perform a procedure in a safe manner, e.g., leaving a sponge inside a patient.
Medical negligence cases involve a substantial amount of time, research, and resources because doctors and hospitals vigorously defend these claims. Therefore, if you intend to pursue a medical negligence case, it is important that you retain an attorney with the appropriate experience.
At Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC, our medical malpractice lawyers in Minnesota will be able to assess your potential case and provide you with a complimentary consultation.
The important thing is not to try to figure out for yourself whether your case qualifies as medical malpractice. We are here to help you evaluate your claim without charge.
Studies & Reports
A recent study at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston shows that medical malpractice claims have decreased by 55.7% between the years of 1992 and 2014. The most frequent complaints were diagnostic errors, surgical errors, and treatment errors.
Goldenberg Lauricella, PLLC only brings claims we think will be meritorious. We can never guarantee success, but we will do the hard work necessary to fully investigate a claim on your behalf.
We will never charge you any fees unless we succeed with your case.
Why Choose Our Minneapolis Medical Malpractice Lawyers?
Think you have a case? Our medical malpractice attorneys are the ones to call. With over 38 years of experience under our belt, you can rest easy knowing that you have skilled and dedicated people working tirelessly to fight for you.
Contact one of our Minneapolis medical malpractice lawyers to find out if you have a case.