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Did A Medical Error Cause You Or Your Loved One Serious Injury Or Death?

We put special trust in doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals when we are sick or injured. In turn, they often strive to do the best, most professional job they can. But sometimes, they fail in their duties. Or are negligent and can put your or a family member’s life at risk. Medical malpractice and medical errors relating to healthcare are the third leading cause of death in the United States, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer. If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of medical malpractice, Sand Law’s experience attorneys can help you get the compensation you deserve.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

When a provider of healthcare delivers medical treatment that falls below the accepted standard of care in the medical community and puts a patient at risk of injury and death. When these thresholds have been met, the medical provider has committed medical malpractice. Therefore, they can be held liable for resulting injuries and other losses.

Common Types Of Medical Malpractice

Some examples of this conduct can include:

  • Anesthesia errors: using an incorrect anesthesia, the wrong dosage of a drug, failing to monitor vital signs or act upon changes in vitals, or using faulty anesthesia equipment
  • Surgical errors: using the wrong instruments, operating on the wrong organ or area of the body
  • Emergency room errors: misreading charts, missing symptoms that result in injury, delaying diagnosis, or giving the wrong medication
  • Hospital malpractice: failing to properly evaluate employee credentials, making an inaccurate diagnosis, neglecting patients, failing to send patients to a correct specialist, or performing pointless surgeries
  • Medical Device Errors: defects in device manufacturing, design failure, inadequate warnings on equipment, misuse of device by staff
  • Misdiagnosis: failing to listen to the patient and take into account all of their symptoms. Failure to recognize symptoms that are obvious signs of serious problems. Failing to examine and take into account a patient’s family and medical history to identify hereditary problems. Or ordering improper tests.
  • Postoperative negligence – If a doctor fails to monitor a patient after a major surgery or treatment, and a harmful condition arises because of this, this can also count as a medical malpractice lawsuit. Some of the condition that can arise because of this can include viral infections, sepsis, internal bleeding, surgery site infections, blood clots, respiratory infections, or necrotizing fasciitis.
  • Other assorted types of medical malpractice include malpractice resulting from specialist care, such as chiropractors, dentists, cosmetic surgeons, or psychiatrists.

Defining Medical Negligence

Medical negligence is the failure to behave with the same level of care that someone of in a similar position would have exercised.  Medical negligence usually relates to some action. However, it can also refer to inaction. This might include failing to administer a drug or treatment when it would have potentially saved a patient’s life.

The 4 elements of medical negligence are:

  1. the healthcare provider had a legal duty to the plaintiff
  2. the healthcare provider breached (or failed to meet) that duty
  3. the victim suffered an injury or death
  4. and that injury or death was a direct cause of the provider’s breach of duty

In a medical malpractice case, it is often to prove that the healthcare provider has a duty to their patient. However, it’s much harder to prove the healthcare provider breached that duty, since medical care is so subjective and often based on many different factors.

Medical Malpractice That Leads To A Wrongful Death

In order to bring about a wrongful death case, one must first be sure to file the claim before the Minnesota statute of limitations runs out. Additionally, the following elements must be present:

  • A human being died;
  • Negligence caused the death, or the intent to cause harm caused the death;
  • The surviving family members now suffer monetary injury because of the death, and;
  • There is a personal representative for the decedent’s estate.

A few common examples of the circumstances that wrongful death claims arise from include the following:

Proceeding With A Minnesota Medical Malpractice Case

Minnesota law requires a medical malpractice lawsuits to have something known as a “Certification of Expert Review” which can make filing a med mal case in Woodbury and through Minnesota a little difficult. Minnesota’s law regarding medical malpractice can be found here: Section 145.682.

Basically, almost any claim or lawsuit regarding malpractice or a medical error or mistake requires the plaintiff’s attorney to file an affidavit stating two things:

  1. that the details of case have been reviewed thoroughly by both the attorney and a qualified medical expert
  2. that at least one or more healthcare providers deviated from the accepted medical standard of care and that deviation caused an injury or death

Minnesota Medical Malpractice Certification Of Expert Review

This is often required in most states. But it is usually not required to be filed at the beginning of the lawsuit. However, in Minnesota, it’s required at the onset of a lawsuit. This can make proceedings a little more difficult. But your attorney will file all paperwork so you don’t have to.

The injured victim’s attorney must also file an affidavit known as an “Identification of Expert” that states which medical experts they plan on using along with a summary of their opinion.

Failing to submit the “Certification of Expert Review” and or the “Identification of Expert” affidavit will almost certainly cause the judge to throw out your medical malpractice lawsuit before it even starts.

Because of this, it is important to have an experienced team of Medical Malpractice Attorneys working on your side that have the resources and networks to get the job done correctly and effectively.

Minnesota Does Not Have A Medical Malpractice Damages Cap

Minnesota currently has no cap on medical malpractice damages, including on compensation for non-economic damages things like pain and suffering. This means injured patient can recover for all their financial losses.

The types of economic losses a medical malpractice victim can seek include:

  • medical expenses, both present and future
  • lost wages lost as a result of the injury
  • pain and suffering
  • mental anguish
  • loss of life’s everyday pleasures (like sex, holding your children, etc)

A medical malpractice or medical negligence attorney will help you navigate the process of compiling information about your case and seek the damages you are entitled to, including punitive medical damages aimed at deterring others from engaging in malicious medical malpractice.

[READ: 10 COMMON QUESTIONS IN A MINNESOTA WRONGFUL DEATH CASE]

Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorneys In Woodbury

If you believe you have a case to make for a medical malpractice claim, don’t hesitate to contact our experienced lawyers at Sand Law LLC. We can be reached online through our contact form or by calling 651-291-7263. Our experienced team will help you take your case to court and get you the compensation to which you are entitled.

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Victims Of Medical Malpractice In Minnesota Should Contact A Personal Injury Attorney

Medical malpractice lawsuits, especially in Minnesota, can be especially complex. There are many different rules and regulations that need to be followed. Because these lawsuits have to do with medicine and the speculation that a doctor has done something wrong or harmful, mountains of medical records will need to be analyzed to determine exactly where things went wrong.

Let’s start by defining medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, or any other healthcare professional, causes any sort of injury to a patient. This can be through negligence or omission. Negligence may be the result of an error, or a doctor deciding to skip a necessary test. If a doctor were to skip a test or make an error, and an injury were to occur because of it, that could be considered medical malpractice.

Types Of Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice claims can include a lot of different injuries and issues. A few include birth injuries that result from a mistake or error on the doctor’s side. These injuries could include cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, brain injuries, brachial plexus, and any other injuries that could have been caused by negligence.

Surgical errors are also considered to be medical malpractice. This includes any infections, organ damage, blood transfusion errors, or gastric surgery errors that may occur after or during surgery. This could also include a surgical tool that was accidentally left inside a patient.

Medication errors are also a source of medical malpractice cases. This can include anesthesia mistakes, the misdosage of any medication, or issuing the wrong prescription on accident. There are many other injuries and accidents that can result in these lawsuits. These injuries include brain and nerve injuries, paralysis, or any potential injury caused by a health professional.

Minnesota Medical Malpractice Statute Of Limitations

A Statute of Limitations sets a time limit for when you’re allowed to file a claim. In this case, the Statute of Limitations states that any lawsuit against a healthcare professional for medical malpractice must be filed within four years of the incident.

However, there are a few reasons the time may be suspended. If the healthcare provider is out of state, leaves the state, or can’t be found, the time will be suspended until they return to the state and can be served with a lawsuit. The four-year time limit will also be suspended if the injured patient was under the age of 18 at the time of the malpractice. The time limit will be suspended until the patient turns 19.

Certification Of Expert Review

The Certification of Expert Review, laid out in Minnesota Statutes section 145.682 requires that in a lawsuit “alleging malpractice, error, mistake, or failure to cure…against a health care provider,” a medical expert’s testimony is required. The plaintiff must also file an affidavit that states that the facts of the case have been reviewed by the plaintiff’s attorney and a qualified expert. The expert must state that the healthcare provider did in fact deviate from the medical standard of care and caused harm to the patient.

Because of this, these cases can be incredibly complex and hard to move forward with. The Certification of Expert Review must also include an affidavit that lays out each of the medical professionals that the plaintiff will use. If this is not filed, the case will likely be dismissed.

Are medical malpractice damages capped in Minnesota?

While other states may have a cap on medical malpractice damages, Minnesota currently does not have one. This means that the injured patient may recover all of the losses that occurred because of the medical malpractice. This includes wages lost, medical bills, and pain and suffering compensation.

Why are medical malpractice cases so difficult to pursue?

Medical malpractice cases are very hard to pursue simply because doctors come off as very trustworthy people. Many don’t know that they can question their doctor or push for a second opinion. And malpractice is often something people don’t think about until it’s too late. When the claim is actually made, there are layers and layers of filing to do and statements to collect.

There are many mountains to climb over to file the medical malpractice lawsuit in the first place. And a Certification of Expert Review is at the top of the list. One mistake can have the case dismissed by the court before it’s even seen the light of day.

How do I know when to contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney?

As soon as you know that you want to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, you should contact an attorney who is experienced in the field. Contacting an experienced attorney is of the utmost importance in this situation. You need an attorney who knows how to file a Certification of Expert Review and has fought medical malpractice cases before. At Sand Law, our experienced medical malpractice lawyers are ready to take on your case and help you get the compensation you deserve. For a free case evaluation, please contact us online or by calling 651-291-7263.

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