Imagine that you have been feeling ill for some time. You go see your doctor, and he cannot figure out what is causing your pain. After multiple visits and detailed explanations about your pain, you finally decide to see another doctor. That doctor tells you that you have a medical issue that requires immediate surgery.
This is just one of the many types of examples that people face every day. We trust our doctors to provide us with the best medical care, telling us exactly what is wrong with us and helping us get better. When they fail us, that may mean they have committed medical malpractice. In the worst cases, medical malpractice can prove deadly. Medical malpractice can occur in a variety of medical settings, including in a private doctor's office or a large hospital, like Methodist Hospital and University Hospital in San Antonio.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has suffered a medical malpractice injury, you need to speak with an experienced San Antonio medical malpractice lawyer today. At Dolman Law Group, we help victims like you recover compensation from negligent medical professionals. Your ability to recover physically and emotionally may depend on the amount of money you receive in your malpractice claim. This money can ease your worries about how you pay your bills and lets you focus on your physical health and well-being.
Getting Results for You
The legal team at Dolman Law Group has been helping victims like you recover compensation for their medical malpractice injuries for decades. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. This money helps them get back on their feet and back to their regular lives. You could be next, and we could be featuring the outcome of your case on our website.
When you are worried about how to pay for your medical treatment, on top of your other bills, all while not getting a paycheck because your injuries prevent you from working, that can prove overwhelming. Your legal representative can help you by shouldering the burden of your financial woes and handling your legal claim. Let us help you hold the negligent medical professional responsible for your injuries. Collecting maximum compensation for you is our goal.
Whether through settlement negotiations or at trial, our legal team is ready to serve as the aggressive legal advocate that you need. Our lawyers are not afraid to take your case to trial if that's what is necessary to recover maximum compensation. Because medical malpractice cases often involve complex medical procedures, you may have to take your case to trial to prove to a jury what happened to you. You want a lawyer who has trial experience to handle your case so that the other side knows you are serious about your pursuit of fair compensation.
We Will Represent You on Contingency
Partner with Dolman Law Group today. We have the medical malpractice trial experience that your case demands. We also represent our clients based on contingent fees. In turn, your family will not need to pay anything to have our lawyers fight to protect your rights and pursue your best interests based on the facts of your San Antonio medical malpractice case.
Why Medical Malpractice Happens in San Antonio
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional makes a mistake because of negligence, carelessness, or recklessness. Simply not getting the outcome you want or not getting better does not by itself rise to the level of medical malpractice. Instead, the doctor or another professional must fail to provide the expected standard of care for your condition based on their training, education, and experience.
Too many healthcare errors take place across the United States because medical professionals move too quickly, see too many patients, and don't take their time to make an accurate diagnosis, among many other reasons. Above all, medical malpractice most often occurs because of human error.
You Can Seek Compensation from the Other Party
When someone else causes your injuries, especially someone you expect to make you feel better, not worse, that creates a frustrating and potentially painful situation. You should seek compensation for your suffering.
A skilled San Antonio medical malpractice attorney can review your case and determine whether the medical professional acted negligently in your situation. If so, your lawyer can work to recover maximum compensation on your behalf, so you do not have to pay a penny out of your own pocket for your care, lost income, pain and suffering, or other related costs.
Types of Medical Malpractice
Partly because of human error, the third-leading cause of death in the United States is medical mistake. While not every error by a medical professional will cause death, this shows the severe impact medical mistakes can have on a patient's life. They can fail to heal a patient and make them suffer symptoms longer, allow their condition to advance, cause new symptoms, and create lasting injuries.
Medical malpractice takes many forms. Some situations are harder to determine than others. Oftentimes, you may not even realize that your ailment was caused by medical malpractice until months or even years after your procedure. Getting compensation depends on your lawyer's ability to determine the cause of your injuries.
Below, we discuss the most common types of medical malpractice, but if yours is not on this list, you should still speak with a medical malpractice lawyer in San Antonio as soon as possible to determine whether you have a case. We may be able to prove medical malpractice with help from medical experts even under circumstances not included on this list.
Surgical Errors
Many different types of medical mistakes exist, but surgical errors are some of the worst. Unfortunately, they are also very common. Some examples of surgical errors include:
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Leaving medical equipment inside the patient's body
- Failing to provide post-surgical care
- Unsanitary surgical conditions
Failure to Diagnose
This happens when a doctor evaluates you and concludes that there is nothing medically wrong. This type of mistake can prove deadly. Failure to diagnose a disease can put the patient's life at risk, especially when it occurs with advancing conditions such as cancers. If this happens to you, you may suffer long-term consequences because of the doctor's inability to diagnose your condition.
Misdiagnosis
Similar to a failure to diagnose, a misdiagnosis occurs when a doctor evaluates you and provides you with an incorrect medical diagnosis. If you are misdiagnosed, this can lead to you receiving treatment for an issue you do not have while also not receiving treatment for what actually ails you. A misdiagnosis can also result in your medical condition worsening because you are not receiving treatment and may turn into something that requires a lifetime of medical care.
Medication Error
This type of medical malpractice can rear its ugly head in two different forms. First, your doctor may prescribe the wrong medication. Second, the pharmacist may have received the right prescription from your doctor but filled it incorrectly, giving you the wrong medication. Either scenario can leave you with serious side effects from the drugs you were given while also not treating your actual medical issue.
Birth Injury
Birth injuries can cause life-long challenges for the infant and their parents. While birth can be difficult and traumatic without negligence on the part of the medical personnel when they act carelessly or make reckless mistakes, things can turn bad quickly. Doctors must carefully monitor the mother and baby during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. If there are signs of trouble, they must make decisions that will protect the baby.
Failure to do so could result in cerebral palsy, brachial plexus birth injuries, head trauma, broken bones, hypoxia, and other significant and debilitating injuries.
Collecting Compensation
Many people do not want to think about lawsuits, particularly right after sustaining a serious injury. However, to give yourself the best chance of making a full and complete recovery, you need to collect money from the negligent medical professional who caused your injury. This is crucial to your health and well-being because, without the money, you may not receive the medical care and attention that you need.
Your lawyer will try to recover compensation for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Lost income
- Lost earning potential
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Present and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
The most important point to remember about getting money is that the vast majority of your expenses may come in the future. The medical bills you see piling up on your kitchen table may represent just a small fraction of the total amount you will need.
Your Attorney Can Determine How Much Compensation You Can Seek
A knowledgeable San Antonio medical malpractice attorney can help you understand just how much money you may need to get better. The last thing you want is to end up paying out of pocket to cover medical expenses from an injury that you did not cause.
Your attorney, who will likely consult medical experts as well, will put together an accurate estimate of your future medical needs. This can give you a clear picture of how expensive your medical treatment may become. It may also help you realize that you need to file a lawsuit so you can collect money to cover your bills.
Medical expenses are not the only large item for which you may need to recover money after a medical malpractice injury. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may struggle to return to work at all, or at least not for a long time, which can severely limit your ability to earn a living and pay your regular living expenses. Many victims think that because this is not a medical cost, they cannot attempt to collect money for their lost wages. If your inability to work stems from your injury, you absolutely should seek compensation for lost wages and lost future income.
It is crucial to your recovery that you work with a seasoned medical malpractice attorney in San Antonio. Your lawyer can advise you and guide you through the complex legal process ahead. Best of all, your attorney can handle the collection of evidence to help prove your case, giving you the time to focus on your physical health and well-being. The legal team at Dolman Law Group has the skill and resources required to help you hold the negligent medical professional liable for your injuries and will work tirelessly to recover maximum compensation on your behalf.
Steps to Take After a San Antonio Medical Malpractice Injury
You might not know right away if you have been the victim of medical malpractice. Texas ranks in the top four states for medical errors. If you suspect that a medical professional has contributed to your injuries, you need to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible. The steps you take immediately upon realizing that you may be a victim of medical malpractice will play a part in your ability to recover maximum compensation.
Find Another Doctor
Getting a second opinion is almost always a good idea, but if you suspect that you are the victim of medical malpractice, get another opinion immediately. You need to make an appointment to see another doctor with similar training and expertise as the doctor you believe may have made a negligent mistake in treating you. For example, if an orthopedist has failed to identify the cause of your leg pain, you need to see another orthopedist.
Another doctor can look at you with fresh eyes and provide an objective opinion. Reviewing your medical history, speaking with you, and evaluating your condition can give your new doctor the opportunity to show you how your condition has worsened or failed to be treated because of your previous doctor's mistakes.
Get Your Medical Records
Request copies of your medical records. Your doctor may have already provided them to you, but ensuring that you have copies of your records will give your legal team access to them quickly. They will only need the medical records related to the treatment, injury, or illness in question unless you have previous related injuries or diagnoses. You do not need to search for records from your childhood because you believe you recently received a misdiagnosis—unless they are somehow relevant.
You should request a copy of your recent records is because your lawyer will want to review your medical records to determine whether you have received medical care that may not meet the normal standard. Medical experts that your lawyer regularly works with may also review the records and provide their opinion. Most medical malpractice cases require a records review by a medical expert in Texas.
Keep a Journal
How you feel after an injury is incredibly important. Your injuries may impact your ability to go about your daily life, caring for yourself and your family. We encourage you to record your symptoms, pain levels, limitations, and other details daily during this time.
Over time, you will forget every roadblock that you faced during your recovery. When you write in your journal every single day, you can provide detailed descriptions of your pain level, medications you had to take, setbacks you experienced, and any progress you made. This information can paint a picture of what you had to go through because of someone else's bad actions.
Contact Dolman Law Group Attorneys Today
The lawyer you choose can make a difference in your ability to recover maximum compensation for your medical malpractice injuries. Medical malpractice law is extremely complex, often requiring the use of medical experts to help everyone understand the impact your injuries have on your life.
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer in San Antonio will have relationships with medical experts who can help determine the cause of your injuries. They can also make a recommendation on who is to blame, which could be more than one medical professional or company. Getting this individualized attention can relieve your stress and worry, giving you the mental and emotional focus that you need to get better.
San Antonio Medical Malpractice FAQs
Placing trust in your doctor is common. It is something you should be able to do without a second thought. But when you learn that your doctor made a serious mistake in your care, that's devastating. Whether the mistake happens to you or to a loved one, you fear for the health of your family and for how your life might change.
If this has happened to you or a loved one, you need to speak with an experienced San Antonio medical malpractice lawyer right away. You may qualify to recover compensation for your injuries by holding the negligent medical professional accountable for causing your injuries. The legal team at Dolman Law Group stands ready to show you the path forward.
What Are Some Examples of Medical Malpractice in San Antonio?
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical practitioner commits a negligent mistake or acts in an unreasonable way that results in your injuries. To be clear, just because your medical procedure failed or the medication you were given did not make you better, that alone may not rise to the level of medical malpractice.
Common examples of medical malpractice include:
- Birth injuries
- Surgical errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Improper medication
- Neglect
- Failure to get consent
Knowing what is and what is not medical malpractice may require an investigation into how your injuries occurred. That's something your legal team can do for you. Investigating your injuries, determining who is to blame, and working to hold the at-fault party accountable for your medical expenses and lost income are all part of your lawyer's job.
Your lawyer does all of this for you, so you can put all your effort and energy into your physical recovery. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may face an uphill battle to get back to your regular life. Devoting your time and energy to that goal instead of worrying about your legal claim is one of the best ways to get better.
What Should I Look for If I Suspect Medical Malpractice?
Medical errors are unfortunately extremely common today. Determining whether an act rises to the level of medical malpractice may present challenges. This determination often requires the advice and counsel of medical experts.
Monitor these signs, especially if you have a gut feeling that something just isn't right:
- If you keep getting worse and your doctor cannot provide a logical explanation.
- If your doctor takes several visits to diagnose your condition.
- Your doctor never received informed consent for treatment or procedures.
- A highly unlikely injury or condition resulted from your medical procedure.
Any of these could constitute a sign that you are the victim of a medical malpractice mistake. To get the help you need to recover from this injury, speak with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in San Antonio today. Your lawyer can help you hold the negligent medical professional accountable for your injuries and work toward collecting maximum compensation on your behalf.
I Signed a Consent form Before My Surgery. Can I Still Recover Damages?
Yes, you and your lawyer can absolutely still file a lawsuit against the negligent doctor. Signing a consent form does not mean you give your doctor license to make a careless or reckless mistake without consequences.
If your doctor or other medical professional deviated from the usual standard of care, you may qualify to recover compensation, even if you signed a consent form. The best way for you to figure out if a doctor or other medical professional caused your injury or illness is to speak with a skilled medical malpractice attorney in San Antonio.
What If Someone Other Than a Doctor Injured Me?
It's often thought that a medical malpractice claim can only allege that a doctor or physician caused your injuries. That's simply not the case. Any licensed medical professional could face liability for your injuries. In some cases, the facility itself may face liability as well, either vicariously or directly.
This may include:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Physician assistants
- Hospital staff
- Dentists
- Anesthesiologists
- Hospital facilities
Understanding who might face responsibility for your suffering allows you to narrow down your options on what comes next. Working with a trusted San Antonio medical malpractice attorney, you can lean on your attorney's experience to investigate your injuries and determine who to name as a defendant in your San Antonio medical malpractice claim.
Multiple parties may be responsible, such as a doctor who acted carelessly and a hospital that supported a culture of lax standards and allowed bad behavior to occur.
How Much Is My San Antonio Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
This is the most frequently asked question we get, and it disappoints clients when we tell them that we cannot provide an exact answer. This amount will depend on your specific circumstances.
At Dolman Law Group, we will not sugarcoat your situation or mislead you. What we will do is work tirelessly to help you recover as much compensation as possible based on the details of your case, your losses and expenses, and the lasting effects of your injuries.
That begins by creating an accurate estimate of your future needs. Along with our medical experts, we look at how many more medical procedures you may need and how much those cost. We look at how much time you will be out of work and if you can ever return. Putting all of this together gives us a good idea of the total value of your claim.
I Can't Go Back to Work. How Do I Pay My Bills?
Medical malpractice victims often assume that they cannot attempt to collect compensation for anything other than medical expenses related to their injury. This is a common misconception and one that can cost victims dearly. It is also one reason you do not want to try to settle your case on your own.
If your injuries prevent you from working temporarily or permanently, you may qualify to seek compensation for your lost income. Your lawyer will work to prove that your injuries make it impossible for you to return to work safely and perform your job. If successful, you may recover compensation to cover your lost income for however long you are out of work.
Do I Have to File a San Antonio Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
A medical malpractice claim is how your lawyer will try to collect maximum compensation for your injuries. Your lawyer may allege several things in your lawsuit to give you the best chance of securing compensation.
- You had a doctor-patient relationship with the medical practitioner who caused your injuries.
- The doctor had a duty to provide you with a medically acceptable standard of care that meets the standards in the medical community.
- The doctor breached the duty by not operating within acceptable standards.
- The breach was the primary cause of your injuries.
- Your injuries have caused you to suffer damages.
It's clear to you that these elements exist, but proving them in a legal environment requires proof through evidence, including medical records and expert testimony.
Many victims do not want to go through this process. Unfortunately, that leaves them on the hook for their medical bills and financial losses. Even minor medical care can bankrupt families. Dealing with expensive medical procedures and missing work can overwhelm victims of medical malpractice. Partner with a seasoned medical malpractice attorney in San Antonio who has your best interests at heart.
Do I Have to File a Claim Soon?
Yes, a medical malpractice claim is subject to a statute of limitations, which bars claims from being filed after a certain period of time. In Texas, you only have two years from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit against the negligent medical professional.
An important part of this statute of limitations in Texas, however, is that it does not matter when you discovered you were injured. The clock on this two-year time limit starts ticking the moment the doctor makes a mistake, even if no one knows a mistake has been made.
In complex cases, it may prove difficult to determine the exact moment when the negligent act occurred. No matter what, though, even the most experienced lawyer needs time to fully investigate your medical issue. The sooner you speak with a medical malpractice lawyer in San Antonio, the sooner your attorney can get your case filed and get money in your pocket.
Will I Have to Go to Court for Medical Malpractice in San Antonio?
Going to court is not like what you see on TV. But it can still create anxiety and concern if your case goes to court.
Most personal injury cases settle out of court, but medical malpractice claims may require time in court. Because your injuries might prove medically complex, it might take time to determine the exact cause. Taking your case all the way to trial may become necessary to show what happened to you and how it affected your life.
When you have the right legal team guiding you, however, there is no need for concern. This is also a good reason why you need to choose a San Antonio medical malpractice lawyer with proven trial experience. You do not want your trial to be your lawyer's first.
At Dolman Law Group, we have helped many medical malpractice victims like you recover for their injuries at trial. Many law firms will not take a case to trial, nor do they have the experience to do so. We work diligently to settle your case, but if trial is necessary to ensure that you recover compensation for the full cost of your injuries, we're the team for you.
Medical malpractice trials are complex. Your lawyer must have experience and have relationships with trusted medical experts who can testify about your medical condition. Getting this evidence together takes time, and that's why our firm starts preparing for trial from day one. We do not want any delay in the amount of time it takes for you to recover compensation.
I Already Have a Settlement Offer. Should I Take It?
We know you want to put this tragic experience behind you as quickly as possible. We know that you have medical bills piling up, you may be out of work, and you are worried about how you will get by. Insurance companies know this too, and they will use this information against you.
Days or weeks after you discover your medical malpractice injury, you may get a call from the insurance company representing that negligent medical practitioner in your case. The insurance representative may want to offer you a quick settlement. This might even excite you and give you hope that you can move on with your life.
Unfortunately, the insurance company's offer will probably be a lowball offer. In fact, it may be so low that it will not even cover the medical expenses you have presently, let alone the bills you have coming in the future.
The insurance company may tempt you to take the settlement offer. Before you do, consider why the insurance company is pressuring you to take the offer so quickly. It's because the offer is in the company's best interest, not yours.
The insurance representative may tell you that the current offer is the best the company can do, that it's only good today, and that you don't need a lawyer to help you. After all, a lawyer will just eat away at your settlement, taking your money as legal fees.
This could not be further from the truth. In reality, the insurance company's initial offer isn't the best offer, and the right lawyer can quickly increase your settlement. We know the games that insurance companies play, and we know how to combat them. We're not afraid to stand up to the big insurance companies and battle them to help you collect maximum compensation.
You need an aggressive legal advocate who always has your best interests in mind. The legal team at Dolman Law Group is here for you.
What Can Dolman Law Group's San Antonio Medical Malpractice Lawyers Do for Me?
Your lawyer can investigate your medical malpractice accident and determine the cause. Knowing how your injuries occurred can give your lawyer a good idea of who caused your injuries. Above all, your attorney can use this information to hold the negligent medical practitioner liable for the mistake that caused your injuries and help you collect maximum compensation.
The last thing you need right now is to worry about how you will pay your medical expenses, cover your financial losses from being out of work, and pay your regular bills. Your lawyer can give you the peace of mind you need to know that everything will be all right. Contact us today to find out how we can help you hold the negligent medical professional responsible for your injuries and help you collect maximum compensation.
Talk to Our San Antonio Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today
Your medical malpractice lawyer needs to have proven experience helping victims like you recover maximum compensation for their injuries. You should not work with a lawyer who does not have medical malpractice experience. This area of the law is too complex and the outcome too important to your ability to recover for you to trust a lawyer who has not been down this road before.
At Dolman Law Group, we have the medical malpractice lawsuit experience that your case demands. Your ability to get back to your regular life depends on your lawyer's ability to help you recover maximum compensation. Contact Dolman Law Group today, so we can show you the path to recovery.
San Antonio Office
921 S St Mary's St #2
San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: (210) 361-2039