Illinois Medical Malpractice Overview

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Medical malpractice is a broad term generally used to describe any treatment, lack of treatment, or other departure from accepted standards of medical care, health care, or safety on the part of a health care provider that causes harm to a patient. Medical malpractice can include, misdiagnosis, improper treatment, failure to treat, delay in treatment, failure to perform appropriate follow-up, prescription errors, etc.

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider – doctor, hospital, HMO, nurse, other individual or entity licensed to provide medical care or treatment – does something that competent doctors would not have done, or fails to do what a competent doctor would have done, resulting in personal injury or wrongful death.

In Illinois, there is a difference between bad treatment, bad results, and medical malpractice. In determining whether a medical malpractice case is worth pursuing, an Illinois medical malpractice lawyer will evaluate whether there has been bad treatment, bad results, or medical malpractice. Just because you are unhappy with your treatment or results does not mean that the doctor is liable for medical malpractice.

Bad treatment involves the doctor’s poor conduct, such as rude behavior, and doesn’t present a claim for medical malpractice. For example, your child’s physician using vulgar language in front of your child does not necessarily give rise to a legitimate medical malpractice claim. Rather than initiating a lawsuit, such behavior should be reported to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations which disciplines physicians and other licensed professionals in Illinois.

Similarly, a bad result is not necessarily proof of medical malpractice. A good or bad result is somewhat separate from the determination of medical malpractice, which is instead based on the duty of medical professionals to provide the best available medical care for any given time and place. This usually means that the doctor did something that should not have been done, performed a procedure improperly or failed to do something that was medically necessary.

For example, common instances of medical malpractice include wrong-site surgery, objects left inside patients, medication errors, and failure to diagnose a time sensitive illness before it is too late. To have a lawsuit that is worth bringing you need to show that the physician error led to a permanent injury that caused a real harm.

Medical malpractice law is complex and therefore it is important to engage an experienced malpractice lawyer who understands the complex issues that apply. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like a referral to an experienced Illinois medical malpractice attorney. Quite honestly, due to the cost and challenge of these cases there are only a handful of law firms that can demonstrate a track record of success. We know who these firms are and which firm is right for a specific type of case. We would be happy to help you and point you in the right direction. All calls are free and confidential.