Trusted Charleston, WV Medical Malpractice Lawyers: Fighting for Your Rights and Compensation
Like everyone else, you trust your doctors and nurses to take care of you. After all, what choice do you have? They are the only ones with the expertise, experience, and legal authority to treat you when you’re ill. When you are sick, the farthest thing from your mind is needing to consult with Charleston medical malpractice lawyers. You just want to get better.
However, doctors aren’t always as cautious as they should be. They make mistakes. Often (surprisingly often), those mistakes are the result of simple carelessness.
“Matt and Adam got me much more money for my accident than the insurance company initially offered me. At first, I was nervous about calling a lawyer, but after my first meeting with Campbell & Smith, I knew I had made the right decision. I can’t recommend them enough.” – Jonathan
Everyone makes mistakes. But when doctors make mistakes, the consequences can be devastating — even deadly. That’s why the medical profession has established such high standards of practice for doctors in this country.
Contact our compassionate and experienced Charleston, WV medical malpractice attorneys today to fight for your rights and compensation. Don’t let a medical mistake devastate your life or the life of a loved one. We have the expertise and experience to hold negligent medical professionals accountable and secure the compensation you deserve. Call us now for a free consultation.
Understanding Medical Malpractice Litigation in Charleston, WV
Physicians and other care providers have a legal duty to uphold their profession’s standard of care, meaning they must exercise great caution and behave as any reasonable doctor would.
When they breach the standard of care, it’s called medical malpractice, and the doctors become legally liable for the injuries, damages, and financial losses that you (or your family members) incur as a result.
Doctors aren’t the only parties who can be held liable. Hospitals, physician groups, medical manufacturers, pharmacies, nursing homes, dental practices, insurance providers, and many other organizations in the health industry share the responsibility to care for you.
If you’ve suffered injury or illness because of a negligent medical error, our office can help. Our experienced Charleston medical malpractice lawyer at Campbell & Smith, PLLC helps injured patients and their families fight for justice — even in the face of stubborn insurance companies or hospital boards who try to elude justice, no matter how much you deserve it.
Medical malpractice cases are complicated. Many legal requirements stand in the way of justice. And because the stakes are so high, the defendants in these claims tend to take unreasonable stances. But all that can change when you get an aggressive attorney team on your side.
Let our dedicated Charleston medical malpractice attorneys fight for you. When we take on a medical malpractice case, our goal is to shoulder the entire burden so that you and your loved ones can focus on healing. And while you’re healing, you can rest assured that it is our mission to maximize your compensation.
Don’t let a group of doctors, administrators, or insurance adjusters tell you how much justice you deserve. Remember — you went to the doctor to get better, not to get worse. Demand that you be treated fairly and compensated justly. Let our skilled Charleston medical malpractice attorney fight for you. Call us today.
Heart Attack and Stroke Malpractice
Heart disease, including heart attack, is still the #1 cause of death in the United States. Deaths from strokes aren’t far behind, ranking at #5. Sadly, many of these deaths are due to a delay in diagnosis or treatment — often because doctors fail to recognize the signs or take patients’ symptoms seriously.
The truth is that anyone can have a heart attack or stroke. While risk increases in the later years of life, people of every age, gender, and lifestyle are nevertheless vulnerable.
Fast action is critical in treating heart attacks and strokes. The passage of a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death. Doctors and Emergency Departments (ERs) know this, yet so many continue to dismiss or overlook the signs.
Not everyone experiences the “classic” symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. That’s why doctors must ask the right questions, conduct a thorough patient history, consider alternative symptoms and diagnoses, and order the appropriate tests when necessary.
If your doctor or hospital failed to recognize or effectively treat your heart attack or stroke — or if a medication or medical procedure caused a cardiac event, aneurysm, or cerebral hemorrhage — our compassionate medical malpractice legal practitioner can help.
Surgical Malpractice
While there are certain risks involved in nearly any surgical procedure, surgeons must still exercise tremendous care to avoid the risk of harm to their patients. But surgical errors are frighteningly common, and they can leave a patient in far worse condition than when they arrived at the hospital.
Examples of surgical malpractice include:
- Leaving objects inside the body
- Operating on the wrong patient
- Operating on the wrong part of the body
- Nerve damage
- Performing cosmetic or elective procedures on high-risk patients
- Errors in incisions or stitches
- Internal organ damage caused by the surgery
Even if you signed a waiver, you might still be entitled to substantial financial compensation for your suffering. Discuss your case with one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys.
Failure to Diagnose
When you’re experiencing unusual symptoms, or your routine test results show something unusual, you aren’t expected to know why. That’s your doctor’s job. Society assigns physicians the important role of identifying injury and disease.
If your doctor failed to diagnose your condition until late in the course of your illness, or if you were given the wrong diagnosis, it may be because your doctor was careless in considering the options.
Doctors have many duties when it comes to diagnosing their patients. Misdiagnoses often result from a breach of those duties. (For example: not taking a patient seriously and sending them home with a flu diagnosis when they were actually suffering from something much more serious.)
Failure to Treat
Similarly, doctors have a duty to prescribe and administer effective treatment for their patients, in accordance with the best practices and recommendations in their field.
If your doctors gave you the wrong treatment, too little treatment, too much treatment, or failed to perform adequate follow-up, they may be liable under West Virginia medical malpractice law. The experienced Charleston, WV medical malpractice lawyers at our firm can help you get the justice you deserve.
“Failure to diagnose/treat” claims are most common in cases involving cancer, heart attack, and stroke. However, they may apply in many other cases too.
Birth Injury
Giving birth should be a time of great joy for your family. But mistakes made during pregnancy, labor, or delivery can change all that.
While most babies are delivered without incident, it is a fact of life that a lot can go wrong during pregnancy. That’s precisely why expectant families spend so much time in doctor’s offices. Physicians, nurses, and midwives have a responsibility to identify potential complications and take the appropriate corrective action.
Birth injuries may affect either the mother or the baby, and they can range from moderate to catastrophic or even fatal. Common birth accidents and injuries include:
- Birth-related infections
- Brachial plexus
- Brain injuries
- Breech birth
- C-section malpractice (e.g., failure to perform an emergency C-section)
- Confusing the mother’s heart rate for the baby’s
- Erb’s palsy / Klumpke’s palsy
- Injury caused by birth-assisting tools (vacuum extractor, forceps, etc.)
- Meconium aspiration syndrome
- Mishandling or dropping the baby
- Oxygen deprivation
- Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)
- Preeclampsia/eclampsia
- Prolapsed umbilical cord
- Shoulder dystocia
- Spina bifida
- Stillbirth
These are only a few examples of potential birth complications, and they are usually attributable to medical negligence. If the mother or baby in your family is suffering from a birth injury, the consequences could last a lifetime. Our Charleston, WV medical malpractice lawyer can provide a shoulder of support and a voice for justice as we go after the restitution you deserve.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia is a necessity in many medical procedures, but it presents many risks in itself. That’s why the medical profession requires that only highly trained physicians be allowed to administer anesthesia. Even then, those specialists must exercise due care from beginning to end.
Administering too much or too little — or the right amount to the wrong patient — can prove devastating or deadly. Indeed, anesthesia errors are among the most frequent medical malpractice claims. In most cases, the error happens because the anesthesiologist was careless or reckless, even if by accident. Our Charleston, WV medical malpractice lawyer can help.
Dental Malpractice
Your dental health is an important part of your overall well-being, and dentists have just as important a responsibility as any physician.
If you’ve suffered injury or illness related to the teeth, gums, tongue, mouth, throat, or salivary glands, and you believe a dental or orthodontic professional might be to blame, please let our office know. You have rights in these situations, and we’re here to protect them. Speak with our Charleston, WV medical malpractice attorneys.
Chiropractic Malpractice
People often tend to think of chiropractors as non-medical providers, but the truth is that the care they provide can have a profound effect on your body. If you’ve suffered an injury after seeing a chiropractor, you may be entitled to compensation for your suffering. Call our experienced Charleston, WV medical malpractice legal team right away.
Pharmaceutical Malpractice
Pharmacists must also be extremely careful when filling prescriptions and advising patients. The wrong medicine (or the right medicine taken in the wrong way) can wreak havoc on the body.
Unfortunately, pharmacists sometimes slip up, often because they are too busy or don’t take the time to understand a patient’s questions or concerns. Likewise, the manufacturers of medications can be held responsible for producing drugs that harm the body. These cases may involve elements of both medical malpractice and product liability.
Frequently Asked Questions about Medical Malpractice in West Virginia
Understandably, prospective clients have many questions about their potential medical malpractice case. Here’s a look at some of the most common questions we receive to help you prepare for your initial consultation.
What Is the Average Settlement for Medical Malpractice Cases?
There is no average settlement amount or settlement range for medical malpractice cases. Your claim should be evaluated independently based on its own merits, not what a potential unrelated dollar amount suggests. Different factors make up the value of your case, including your injury severity, total damages, and liability.
What Types of Damages Can You Recover in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
The purpose of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is to recover compensation for your injuries and damages. You want to be made “whole” and put in the position you were in before the malpractice. Some of the compensation you could be entitled to is made up of economic and non-economic damages.
Your economic damages include things such as your lost wages, medical expenses, future medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, and more. Non-economic damages include things such as pain and suffering and loss of consortium. Like several other states, West Virginia caps the amount of compensation you can receive for non-economic damages.
If you can show the medical professional acted with malice, fraud, or intent to harm you, you might also be eligible to collect punitive damages.
Is There a Time Limit to Bring a West Virginia Medical Malpractice Claim?
Like other types of personal injury matters, yes, there is a time limit for bringing a medical malpractice claim. Determining the proper cutoff date, known as the statute of limitations, can be very tricky in a medical malpractice claim. If you miss the deadline, the court will likely throw out your case, and you will be barred from any recovery. That is one reason why retaining our skilled Charleston, WV medical malpractice legal team is so important.
In general, you typically have two years from the date of your injury or the date you discovered the injury (or when you reasonably should’ve discovered it). However, you cannot bring a claim more than ten years after the date of discovery.
Free Case Review with Our Charleston Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Campbell & Smith, PLLC is a full-service law firm with a vast range of experience in nearly every area of law. Our talented Charleston, WV medical malpractice attorney knows our way around the courtroom, and we understand the power of aggressive advocacy.
Medical malpractice cases are challenging, but our personal injury lawyers are ready to take the burden on our shoulders and fight aggressively for the best outcome. Our law firm can also help you in other practice areas, including auto vehicle accidents, commercial and semi-truck accidents, nursing home negligence and malpractice, sexual abuse, and wrongful death claim.
Strict legal time limits apply to medical negligence claims, so don’t delay. Call our experienced Charleston medical malpractice lawyer, or contact us online to schedule a free case evaluation today.