Whatcom County Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Have you or someone you love suffered harm due to medical negligence in Whatcom County, WA? Pursuing compensation after a devastating case of medical malpractice can feel overwhelming. But an experienced medical malpractice lawyer can help guide you through this complex legal process.

For over 40 years, the dedicated team at Moseley Collins Law has helped hundreds of victims and grieving families recover millions of dollars in compensation after medical errors turned their world upside down. Our lawyers have considerable expertise representing those harmed by all types of medical mistakes across Whatcom County and beyond.

If substandard medical care resulted in catastrophic injuries or wrongful death of a loved one in Whatcom County, please read on to learn more about how our compassionate lawyers can help. We outline the key information you need regarding medical malpractice claims in Whatcom County, Washington.

Whatcom County residents rely on several major healthcare systems and medical facilities to meet their medical needs, including:

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center - Serving as the largest hospital in Whatcom County, PeaceHealth St. Joseph is located in Bellingham and offers a wide range of services from emergency medicine and trauma care to specialty treatment like cancer services, neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, maternity and newborn care, surgical services, and more.

Unity Care Northwest - With facilities in Bellingham, Lynden, Ferndale and Everson, Unity Care NW provides affordable primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, dental care, behavioral health services and substance abuse treatment to Whatcom County families and residents.

Family Care Network - With over 65 providers at 10 clinic locations across Whatcom, Skagit and Island Counties, Family Care Network offers family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN services, lab work, chronic disease management, preventative care and more.

PeaceHealth Medical Group - In addition to the St. Joseph hospital, PeaceHealth operates several primary care and specialty outpatient clinics across Whatcom County providing convenient access to family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics, endocrinology, pulmonology and other specialty services.

There are a wide variety of situations where healthcare professionals may fail to meet reasonable standards of medical care, resulting in devastating consequences for patients and families. 

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis - Failing to recognize signs and symptoms of a serious illness like cancer or heart disease early enough often compromises effective treatment. Missing opportunities to diagnose infections before they spread also causes grave harm.
• Surgical mistakes - Botched operations involving nicks to blood vessels or organs, operating on the wrong body part, leaving foreign objects inside patients after surgery, not preventing post-surgical infections, and anesthesia errors resulting in brain damage or death.
• Childbirth injuries - Errors during labor and delivery such as improper use of birthing instruments, failure to perform emergency C-sections when fetal monitoring shows distress, and not properly immobilizing infant neck and shoulders during delivery. Preventable birth trauma can lead to permanent disabilities.
• Medication errors - Administering or prescribing the wrong medications or dosages, ignoring harmful drug interactions, giving patients incorrect doses, negligently monitoring side effects, and pharmacy dispensing errors.
• Misinterpretation of test results - Failure to properly track lab results or diagnostic imaging appropriately can allow diseases like cancers to proliferate before catching them at early treatable stages. Radiology errors also impact care.
• Infections - Poor infection control inside hospitals and clinics can expose patients to antibiotic-resistant superbugs, sepsis, MRSA, C. diff bacterial infections, HIV, hepatitis B, and other preventable infections.

If you or someone close to you suffered any type of injury after medical negligence in Whatcom County, do not hesitate to call us for a free case review. Our firm will evaluate exactly what went wrong and discuss your options for holding negligent medical professionals fully accountable.

We help victims of healthcare negligence in all Whatcom County cities and towns including:

• Bellingham
• Lynden
• Blaine
• Ferndale
• Sumas
• Everson
• Nooksack
• Acme
• Sudden Valley
• Birch Bay
• Custer
• Maple Falls
• Glacier
• Van Zandt
• Welcome
• Wiser Lake
• Austin
• Dalbeg
• Lawrence
• Clipper
• Geneva

Regardless of whether you live in Bellingham proper or smaller rural Whatcom County communities like Nooksack or Van Zandt, our lawyers can come meet with you about medical errors anywhere across the county. Initial consultations are always free, so call anytime.

The medical malpractice lawyers at Moseley Collins Law have seen virtually every type of medical mistake scenario over four decades helping injury victims nationwide. Some of the more common situations of negligence we successfully handle include:

Failing to properly recognize signs and symptoms of diseases through examination, testing and imaging allows these silent killers to rapidly advance unchecked. Catch these devastating diseases early while still treatable. Missing opportunities to diagnose infections before they spread also causes grave harm. Our lawyers work with the best medical experts to prove when quicker, more complete diagnoses likely would have made a massive difference.

Even routine outpatient procedures can inflict tremendous harm when surgeons, surgery staff or hospitals fail to rigorously follow safety protocols. Botched operations involving nicks to blood vessels or organs, operating on the wrong body part, leaving foreign objects inside patients, failing to prevent post-surgical infections, and anesthesia errors resulting in brain damage or death.

Regardless what type of medical negligence caused harm to you or someone you love in Whatcom County, we have the focused expertise to prove liability and pursue maximum compensation. Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

Successfully establishing malpractice liability involves much more than just obtaining client statements and gathering select medical records. Building an airtight case hinges on exhaustive legal investigation and development.

Key steps our lawyers take when pursuing Whatcom County medical negligence cases always include:

Consulting Medical Experts - To bolster validity, we partner with prominent specialists at esteemed institutions outside the region. Securing multiple unbiased expert opinions confirming clear-cut deviations from accepted standards of medical care significantly boosts the strength of injury claims.

In-Depth Legal Analysis - Unique state laws and regulations govern medical liability legal processes including medical standard of care rules, damage caps, special claim exceptions and strict filing deadlines. Our lawyers fully analyze the complex legal framework surrounding Washington medical malpractice cases.

Obtaining Exhaustive Medical Records - We collect every pertinent record related to patient care. This often encompasses files from multiple treating physicians, hospitalizations, clinics, therapists, testing facilities, pharmacies and more. Comprehensive records allow us to piece together exactly what happened and when.

Researching Medical Literature - Peer-reviewed studies, clinical practice guidelines and protocols published by medical societies help establish widely accepted standards of care applicable based on case specifics. Our lawyers compare guidelines against care delivered.

Proving Causation - In addition to proving a breach in the duty of care that harmed patients, our litigation approach must demonstrate how the subpar medical care directly caused the patient’s claimed injuries and damages. Medical experts analyze disease progression timelines and health declines following errors to prove causation.

Successfully proving complex medical negligence requires a meticulous, multi-pronged investigative approach leveraging both legal and medical research tactics. This allows our lawyers to build robust claims for injured clients to recover rightful compensation through favorable verdicts or settlement negotiations.

At Moseley Collins Law, we provide medical malpractice victim representation on a contingency fee basis. This means injured patients and families never need to provide any upfront payments to retain our services. We also front all necessary legal costs and case expenses ourselves as cases progress.

Our firm only collects our contingency fee percentage if we succeed in securing financial compensation through a settlement with healthcare providers or jury award at trial. This fee gets taken from those gross proceeds achieved on our clients’ behalf. If we cannot get injured clients fair monetary damages, no fees whatsoever are owed to our firm.

This beneficial contingency fee billing method helps remove prohibitive financial barriers that might otherwise discourage those legitimately harmed by medical negligence from taking legal action and pursuing justice. Victims coping with severe injuries and substantial financial losses should not have to bear the burden of expensive hourly legal fees or major case expenses just to battle deep-pocketed hospitals, physicians groups, and corporate healthcare organizations.

We believe the contingency fee billing structure best protects the interests of clients in medical incident cases. It empowers injured patients and grieving families to secure top-tier legal advocates battling on their behalf without worrying whether they can afford services upfront. Our lawyers also maintain heavy motivation to maximize claim values since our compensation derives directly from the final payouts secured. This unique yet ethically aligned interests between client and law firm produces optimal litigation outcomes.

When facing the daunting task of battling healthcare organizations after medical errors, it helps tremendously to have an accomplished firm by your side that medical negligence defendants respect. What sets the veteran medical malpractice lawyers at Moseley Collins Law apart?

National Recognition - Through consistent courtroom litigation success and dedication to helping medical malpractice victims over 40 years, our lawyers continue earning recognition and respect from legal peers and publications for knowledge, effectiveness and results delivered.

Unwavering Commitment to Client Needs - Every person gravely harmed by preventable medical negligence deserves responsive, compassionate legal guidance as they deal with aftermath. We treat clients like members of our own family - not faceless cases or files. Making effort to comprehend the disruption and emotional trauma malpractice causes further drives our passion for justice.

When weighing all options for legal representation after medical negligence leads to catastrophic injury or death of a loved one anywhere in Washington State, we encourage you to contact us for a free initial consultation by calling 800-426-5546. Our office remains willing and able to guide victims toward justice and closure after medical errors flip lives upside down.

Moseley Collins Law remains dedicated to helping victims of medical negligence in Whatcom County and communities statewide hold healthcare providers fully accountable when substandard practices cause grave harm. Our proven track record delivering results for clients over decades separates us from less experienced firms you may consider after malpractice. We have the litigation tools and perseverance needed to successfully battle hospitals and physicians groups - and win.

To learn more and schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced Whatcom County medical malpractice lawyer, please call 800-426-5546 or contact us online today. Let our caring legal team help guide you and your family toward rightful justice.

Clear signals of malpractice may include obvious surgical mistakes, medication errors that should not occur, mistakes on medical charts/records, or providers outright admitting errors. However just having a bad complication or outcome after procedures where no standards were breached likely does not qualify as negligence.

If a standard medical procedure resulted in rapid decline and unexpected death of your loved one, it raises legitimate questions. Or if doctors ignored serious symptoms that should have been addressed urgently, an experienced medical malpractice lawyer can pursue a wrongful death claim against all negligent parties.

Bringing a claim against major healthcare organizations requires enlisting a reputable law firm with extensive experience winning verdicts in court after thoroughly proving malpractice. Established credibility earned from past litigation successes encourages reasonable settlements since our courtroom abilities are proven. Bringing in legal teams that opposing counsels respect helps.