Lincoln County Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Suffering harm due to a medical professional's negligence can completely upend your life. If you or a loved one has been injured due to medical malpractice in Lincoln County, WA or the surrounding areas, you may have grounds to pursue legal action. But dealing with the complex legal, medical, and insurance issues involved in a medical malpractice case takes experienced representation.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Moseley Collins Law have over 40 years of experience helping injured victims and families. We have recovered millions of dollars for our clients by building strong cases and fighting for maximum compensation.

This page will provide an overview of medical malpractice claims in Lincoln County, WA, and how a lawyer can help you seek justice after medical negligence.

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional or facility breaches the established standard of care, resulting in injury, illness or death. Some examples of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a serious medical condition
• Surgical errors and mistakes during medical procedures
• Improper medication prescription or dosages
• Failure to quickly respond to test results indicating a serious condition
• Childbirth injuries to mother or baby due to negligence

To prove medical malpractice under Washington law, these key elements must be established:

• A patient-provider relationship existed where the provider owed a duty of care
• The provider breached the accepted standard of medical care
• The breach directly caused the patient's injury or damages
• The damages resulted in significant losses or costs to the patient

The standard of care refers to how a reasonably prudent medical professional would have acted under the same circumstances. Failing to follow clinical guidelines, provide indicated treatments, or avoid preventable errors may constitute breaching the duty of care.

Some common medical errors that cause harm, such as surgical mistakes and misdiagnoses, are obvious breaches of the standard of care. But healthcare providers also can make more subtle errors or oversights that nevertheless reflect medical negligence.

Determining if malpractice occurred requires investigating the specifics of your situation and whether the provider met the appropriate medical standard. This is where a lawyer experienced in medical malpractice can help analyze your potential claim.

Medical negligence can happen in various healthcare settings and specialties. While each case is unique, some more common situations that lead to medical malpractice claims include:

Surgeons are responsible for ensuring procedures are performed competently and safely. But mistakes can happen, such as:

• Operating on the wrong site of the body
• Leaving a foreign object inside the patient after surgery
• Causing damage to internal organs and tissues
• Failing to prevent surgical site infections due to negligence
• Carrying out an unnecessary surgery

Surgical errors can cause severe complications, pain, permanent impairment or disability, and even death.

An inaccurate or late diagnosis prevents the patient from getting timely treatment for their actual condition. This can cause illnesses to significantly worsen. Some examples include:

• Failure to diagnose cancer, infections, or blood clots
• Failure to order tests and provide appropriate referrals
• Misreading diagnostic images and lab results
• Not recognizing symptoms of stroke, heart disease, etc.

A missed or wrong diagnosis is a frequent reason patients file malpractice claims.

When a physician or healthcare facility provides negligent care during labor and delivery, avoidable injuries can result in the mother and/or infant. Birth injuries associated with medical malpractice may include:

• Failure to monitor fetal distress
• Improper use of birth-assisting tools
• Delayed C-section for complicated childbirth
• Delivery room errors causing oxygen deprivation

Birth injuries like Erb’s palsy, cerebral palsy, and other impairments may entitle the family to medical malpractice damages.

Preventable mistakes with medications frequently occur both in and out of hospitals. Some medication error examples include:

• Administering the wrong drug or incorrect dosage
• Overprescribing medications that interact dangerously
• Pharmacy dispensing mistakes
• Failure to oversee drug effects and adjust dosages properly

Medication errors are a major cause of patient harm, including allergic reactions, toxicity, overdoses, and wrongful death.

Elderly nursing home residents rely on staff to meet all their health and safety needs. Yet inadequate care, mistakes, and even intentional abuse or assault still happen. Some types of nursing home negligence or abuse that can prompt malpractice suits include:

• Failure to prevent patient falls and injuries
• Not treating bed sores resulting in infection
• Missing signs of abuse or reporting abuse
• Administering incorrect medications or dosages
• Withholding food or nutrition

Seeking compensation through a malpractice claim may be warranted when nursing home neglect or abuse causes injury or wrongful death.

Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists take extensive precautions to prevent errors that can cause anesthesia awareness, brain damage, paralysis, or death. But mistakes still occur, like:

• Administering improper dosages of anesthesia drugs
• Failing to monitor oxygen levels during surgery
• Not identifying and addressing complications from anesthesia
• Inadequately monitoring patients in recovery

Anesthesia mistakes made during invasive procedures or surgeries can leave the patient with serious complications.

No matter what kind of medical treatment you received, if substandard care resulted in harm, considering a malpractice suit may help you recover damages for your losses. Having a lawyer investigate what went wrong is crucial.

Some of the major hospitals serving in Lincoln County include:

Samaritan Healthcare is the main hospital serving Lincoln County, WA. It offers emergency care, cancer treatment, childbirth services, orthopedics, imaging and more.

Lincoln Hospital District EMS provides emergency medical transport for Lincoln County.

Some of the main towns and areas we help those injured by medical negligence in Lincoln County include:

• Davenport
• Reardan
• Sprague
• Harrington
• Wilbur
• Creston
• Odessa
• Edwall
• Almira
• Grand Coulee

In a successful medical malpractice lawsuit, the injured plaintiff can recover several types of monetary damages. Calculating and documenting all applicable damages is a key part of the case. Some damages our Lincoln County medical malpractice lawyers strive to obtain include:

• Medical expenses - Any costs related to hospitalization, surgery, therapy, rehabilitation, prescriptions, assistive devices and in-home care necessitated by the malpractice injury. Ongoing future medical costs can also be recovered.
• Lost income - If the injury compromised your ability to work, calculating income lost from time off work or reduced ability to earn your prior wages. Future loss of earnings from disability is also factored in.
• Pain and suffering - Damages for physical pain, discomfort, and mental/emotional anguish stemming from the malpractice. May include loss of enjoyment of life if you can no longer participate in favored activities.
• Wrongful death - In fatal malpractice cases, the damages include loss of companionship, funeral and burial costs, loss of decedent's financial support and services, and other death-related losses.
• Punitive damages - If malpractice actions are found especially negligent or reckless, punitive damages that further punish and deter egregious misconduct may be awarded.

Having an experienced Lincoln County medical malpractice lawyer help calculate and pursue full compensation is critical. We have helped injured clients recover millions in damages through strong advocacy in these complex cases.

In Washington, medical malpractice claims must adhere to strict deadlines, called the statutes of limitations. Generally patients have three years from the date of malpractice to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, in cases where the injury was not immediately apparent, plaintiffs have one year from the date the malpractice was or should have been discovered.

It is essential to act quickly and consult a lawyer about your potential malpractice claim, so your rights are preserved before the statute of limitations expires. We devote resources immediately to investigating your case's merits, collecting evidence and records, and filing your claim on time.

If an act of medical negligence has devastated your health and livelihood, you need legal advocates who will aggressively fight for your rights and best interests. Moseley Collins Law offers valuable representation for medical malpractice victims in Lincoln County, WA with these distinct benefits:

• We have over 40 years of proven experience successfully handling the most complex medical malpractice claims.
• Our lawyers offer compassionate counsel and guidance as we help clients overcome trauma and chart the path forward. We know malpractice cases are emotionally challenging too.
• You pay no fees until we achieve compensation for you, so we are fully motivated to get a positive legal outcome. We handle malpractice suits on a contingency fee basis.
• We have the financial resources to thoroughly pursue maximum damages, which can involve extensive professional expert witnesses, records review, case investigation, legal motions, and trial advocacy.
• Our record includes recovering millions in verdicts and settlements for clients in Lincoln County, WA and throughout the state who suffered harm from medical negligence. We fight to get full justice.

Suffering the effects of medical malpractice can feel helpless and overwhelming. But turning to us for dedicated legal representation that gets results can give you power and hope again. We encourage you to contact us for a free, no obligation case evaluation today.

All sorts of errors - like surgical mistakes, improper prescriptions, missed diagnoses, childbirth injuries, etc. Any negligent medical care that hurts you is potential grounds for a malpractice claim. A lawyer can advise if you have a valid case.

The main hospital is Samaritan Healthcare in Davenport where most residents go for care. If mistakes by any Lincoln County doctors, nurses, or staff at this hospital hurt you, malpractice may have occurred.

You can recover full compensation for all related losses - from medical bills and lost income to diminished quality of life. Experienced lawyers ensure you receive complete damages. Cases can be worth millions.

With our 40+ year record of proven success on complex medical negligence cases, we have the dedication and resources it takes to win cases. We've recovered millions for injured clients thus far. Our experience gets results.