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Our hospital negligence lawyer Chicago team fights for people hurt by medical mistakes. At Conboy Law Firm Injury & Medical Malpractice Lawyers, we see how medical errors can destroy lives. You trust doctors to make you better, not worse. Yet many patients leave hospitals in worse shape than when they arrived.
We know how to hold careless medical professionals accountable. We help injured patients get money for medical bills, lost wages, and suffering. Medical malpractice cases require specialized legal skills, which our firm offers to Chicago residents.
If you’ve been hurt by hospital negligence, you’re not alone. We’re ready to look at your case and fight for the justice you deserve.
Hospital negligence happens when your healthcare provider doesn’t give you appropriate treatment. This kind of medical negligence occurs when other medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and hospitals, make mistakes that could have been avoided. These errors often hurt patients and cause physical pain. Medical malpractice occurs in many forms and can lead to anything from minor problems to serious brain injuries or even death.
For a successful medical malpractice claim, we need to show four key things:
Many victims of medical malpractice don’t know that lots of people might be responsible for their injuries. It’s not just the doctor. The hospital, nurses, techs, anesthesiologists, surgeons, and office staff might all share blame.
In Illinois, medical negligence cases happen too often. Studies show medical errors are the third biggest cause of death nationwide. Thousands of Chicago residents get hurt each year. These aren’t just statistics—they represent real people whose lives were changed by preventable mistakes.
You have legal options if you’ve been harmed. Our Chicago medical malpractice attorneys can identify all liable parties and help you recover compensation.
Medical errors in hospitals take many forms, but all share one trait: they’re typically preventable. When these mistakes occur, they can lead to serious injuries or even fatal outcomes. Recognizing these errors helps hold negligent healthcare providers accountable.
Understanding patterns of hospital negligence helps us build stronger medical malpractice cases. Here are common treatment errors that may support a valid malpractice claim.
Misdiagnosis is one of the most dangerous hospital errors. When doctors miss heart attacks, strokes, or cancer, patients lose precious treatment time. A missed cancer diagnosis could turn a treatable case into a terminal one. This happens more often than you might think.
Treatment delays hurt patients, too. The risk of heart damage increases with each minute that a patient with chest pain remains untreated in the emergency room. We’ve seen hospitals make patients wait for care while they suffered lasting harm.
Improper discharges put vulnerable patients at serious risk. Sending someone home too early can lead to complications or even death. This often happens when hospitals are overcrowded or understaffed. We fight for patients who were sent home without proper instructions or when their symptoms clearly warranted further medical treatment.
Medication errors represent a common form of hospital negligence. These mistakes include:
Even a small decimal point error in dosage can cause serious harm, especially with powerful drugs like blood thinners or insulin.
Poor communication in hospitals puts patients at risk. When shifts change, important details about allergies or medications may get lost. We’ve seen cases where patients got double doses of medicine because one nurse didn’t know another had already given it. These mistakes can cause serious harm.
These communication breakdowns extend to department transfers, too. A patient moving from emergency to surgery to intensive care passes through many hands. Each transition creates an opportunity for critical information to be lost. The results can include surgical procedures on the wrong body part or important test results being ignored. These aren’t mere accidents; they represent serious breaches in the standard of care hospitals must provide.
We’ve spent years fighting for victims of hospital negligence in Chicago. Our team knows the rules and standards that Illinois hospitals must follow. This helps us quickly spot when proper care wasn’t given.
The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at our firm have won cases against major hospitals. We work with top medical experts who help explain complex medical facts as clear evidence. These experts show how your care wasn’t what it should have been.
What sets our experienced medical malpractice lawyers apart is our commitment to both the medical and legal aspects of your case. We communicate with juries and judges in the language of medical professionals while elucidating intricate medical concepts. Because of this experience, we have been able to obtain sizeable settlements for patients who suffered from birth injuries, misdiagnoses, surgical errors, and other types of medical malpractice.
Taking legal action against a hospital isn’t easy. The system protects medical professionals. Without good legal help, injured patients face tough battles against hospital lawyers and insurance companies. Medical malpractice suits have special rules that make them different from other injury cases.
We help clients with every stage of bringing a claim for medical malpractice. Our experience with the Illinois legal system ensures your case meets all requirements. Let’s explore the specific steps in bringing a successful claim against a negligent healthcare provider.
There are several essential steps in the Illinois medical malpractice claim filing process:
We must demonstrate that the care you received was subpar in order to prove medical negligence. In order to show how appropriate care could have avoided your injuries, our personal injury attorneys collaborate with medical professionals.
In Illinois, you usually have two years to file your claim. This time starts when you knew or should have known about your injury. This “discovery rule” helps when injuries don’t show up right away. For example, if a surgeon leaves something inside you, you might not know until problems start months later.
Special rules apply for minors injured by hospital negligence. Generally speaking, minors have eight years from the date of the careless act or until they turn 22, whichever comes first. These extended deadlines recognize that children shouldn’t lose their rights while too young to assert them.
Waiting too long creates serious problems beyond just missing legal deadlines. Evidence can disappear, medical records might be altered, and witnesses’ memories might fade. We advise getting in touch with our legal team as soon as you believe hospital negligence led to your injuries in order to build the best malpractice case possible.
Once your medical malpractice lawsuit begins, it follows a structured path through the legal system. Understanding this process helps our clients prepare for what lies ahead. While each case has unique elements, most follow similar steps from filing through resolution.
We take care of the intricate legal work so you can concentrate on getting better. Our team manages court filings, negotiations, and trial preparation while keeping you informed about important developments in your case.
The medical malpractice lawsuit process follows these main steps:
While most medical malpractice cases settle before trial, we prepare every case as if it will go before a jury to ensure the strongest possible position for our clients.
The choice to settle or go to trial depends on several things. When a hospital offers enough money to cover your medical costs, lost wages, and suffering, settling might be best. Settlements give you guaranteed money without the stress of a trial.
Going to court makes sense when they don’t offer what your case is worth. Serious cases with permanent disability or death often need a jury trial. This path takes longer but can bring more money when the negligence is clear and the harm is severe.
Although we outline the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, you have the last say. Some clients prefer the certainty of a settlement, while others choose a trial to ensure full accountability. Whatever path you choose, we stand ready to fight for your best interests.
Medical malpractice cases rank among the most complex areas of personal injury law. They combine intricate medical knowledge with challenging legal requirements. As medical malpractice attorneys, it is our responsibility to level this unfair playing field.
We possess the specialized knowledge needed to build successful hospital negligence claims. From understanding medical terminology to knowing which experts can best support your case, our experience helps transform your experience into a compelling legal argument.
Our investigation goes beyond just reading your medical chart. We look through thousands of pages of records. We search for missing notes, changed entries, or other signs that someone tried to hide mistakes. This detailed work requires both legal and medical expertise.
Key parts of our investigation include:
This comprehensive investigation builds a clear picture of what went wrong with your care. By connecting dots that might seem unrelated, we establish patterns of negligence that support your claim for compensation.
The “standard of care” means what a good doctor would have done in the same situation. We use it to judge whether your healthcare was proper. When your care falls below this standard and hurts you, that’s medical negligence.
We work with respected medical experts who define what the standard of care should have been in your specific situation. These experts review your records and explain where treatment deviated from acceptable practices. Their testimony establishes both what should have happened and how the actual care fell short.
This framework allows us to connect the substandard care directly to your injuries. By showing the chain of events from the negligent act to your harm, we build a compelling case for why the hospital and its staff should be held accountable for medical malpractice damages.
Hospital negligence cases often involve multiple responsible parties. Understanding who bears legal responsibility for your injuries is essential for building an effective medical malpractice claim. Different healthcare professionals play different roles, and liability might extend beyond those who directly treated you.
We examine the entire care team and hospital structure to identify all potentially liable parties. This comprehensive approach ensures we pursue compensation from everyone who contributed to your injuries.
When staff members commit errors, hospitals may be held accountable. This legal rule, called “respondeat superior,” means the hospital may have to pay for injuries caused by nurses, techs, or other staff members.
This principle becomes complicated when dealing with doctors, who often work as independent contractors. In these cases, the hospital might claim it isn’t responsible for the physician’s negligence. Yet exceptions exist – if the hospital presented the doctor as its employee, they may still be liable.
Understanding these distinctions helps us determine whether to pursue claims against individual providers, the hospital, or both. To make sure your claim covers all liable parties, we assess employment relationships and the hospital’s presentation of its medical staff to patients.
Different hospital staff can cause harm in different ways:
Administrative failures represent a growing area of hospital negligence. Understaffing, inadequate training, poor record-keeping systems, and flawed safety protocols create dangerous conditions that lead to patient harm. Even if individual health care providers did their best, these systemic problems can make safe care impossible. We identify these institutional failures and hold hospital administrators accountable.
Losing a loved one to medical mistakes is devastating. When hospital negligence causes death, families face both grief and financial hardship. These cases need special legal handling and a gentle approach.
Illinois law allows wrongful death claims when medical negligence kills someone. These claims work differently from regular medical malpractice cases, with special rules about who can file and what money they can get.
The person in charge of the deceased’s estate usually files these claims, seeking money for:
While no amount of money can replace your loved one, financial recovery can provide stability as you cope with your loss. We approach wrongful death cases with particular sensitivity. Beyond compensation, many families find that holding negligent parties accountable helps provide closure and prevents similar tragedies. Through careful investigation and strong advocacy, we help families transform their grief into meaningful action.
Birth injuries are among the saddest hospital negligence cases we handle. What should be a joyful time can turn tragic when doctors or nurses make mistakes during delivery. These errors can cause lifelong disabilities requiring ongoing medical care.
We handle birth injury cases with special care, recognizing both the emotional trauma and long-term financial challenges these families face. Our experience helps secure the resources families need for their child’s ongoing care.
Birth injuries from hospital negligence often include:
These injuries often result from specific errors like failure to monitor fetal distress, delayed cesarean sections, or improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors. When doctors ignore signs of fetal distress or nurses fail to alert physicians to concerning monitor readings, babies can suffer permanent harm.
These cases require specialized medical experts who can connect the delivery room mistakes to your child’s specific injuries. We work with neurologists, obstetricians, and life-care planners to establish both liability and the full extent of future medical bills. This approach ensures your child will have the resources needed for specialized treatment, therapy, adaptive equipment, and potential lifelong care.
We take hospital negligence cases on contingency. This means you pay nothing upfront. We only get paid if we win money for you through a settlement or a verdict. If we don’t win, you owe us nothing.
Most Illinois medical malpractice cases take between one and three years to resolve, depending on complexity. Simple cases with clear liability might settle in 12-18 months, while complex cases involving multiple defendants or permanent injuries might take longer. We work efficiently while giving your case the thorough attention needed.
Your main job is to give us accurate information about your medical history and injuries. We’ll need you to sign forms to get your medical records, answer written questions from the other side, and maybe give a statement under oath. You might also need medical exams to document your injuries. Beyond these basics, we handle the legal work while you focus on getting better.
The value depends on several factors: the severity of your injuries, whether they’re permanent, your medical expenses (past and future), lost wages, and your pain and suffering. Cases involving lifelong disabilities or wrongful death typically result in higher compensation. While we can’t guarantee specific amounts, we can provide reasonable estimates based on our experience with similar medical malpractice damages cases.
Hospital negligence cases are challenging, with success rates lower than other types of personal injury claims. The strength of your case depends on the quality of evidence, expert testimony, and whether negligence and causation can be clearly established. We carefully evaluate each potential case and only proceed when we believe there’s a reasonable chance of success.
Most hospitals and their insurance companies initially deny responsibility and may offer minimal settlements early in the process. They often claim your injuries resulted from underlying conditions rather than negligence. Some will fight vigorously, while others become more reasonable after strong evidence emerges. We prepare for aggressive defense while remaining open to fair settlement opportunities.
Choosing the right lawyer can make a big difference in the outcome of your case. Not all personal injury lawyers know how to handle hospital negligence claims. These cases need special skills and resources.
When choosing a law firm for your medical malpractice suit, look for these key things:
At Conboy Law Firm, our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers bring both medical understanding and legal expertise to every hospital negligence case. We invest in the necessary resources to build the strongest possible claims for our clients. Our client-centered approach means you’ll always know where your case stands and what steps we’re taking to advance your interests.
If hospital mistakes have hurt you, call our hospital negligence lawyer Chicago team for a free case review. We’ll look at what happened and explain your options. Don’t wait – evidence can disappear fast, and legal deadlines approach quickly. We take cases on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we win money for you. Whether you’re dealing with nursing home abuse, spinal cord injury, or other harm, we help medical malpractice victims across Illinois. Call today to protect your rights.
Joseph M. Conboy, founder of Conboy Law, represents victims of catastrophic injuries and wrongful death, securing numerous multi-million-dollar results. Recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019–2022), he is a member of the American Association for Justice and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Conboy earned his J.D. from DePaul University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Colorado.
If you or a loved one has been injured, don’t hesitate to contact our injury attorneys today!
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