If you were harmed because of a medical error in Brentwood, TN, you need experienced legal help right away. The at-fault doctor, hospital, or healthcare provider may owe you significant compensation. Contact a Brentwood medical malpractice lawyer at Meyers Personal Injury Law at (615) 258-9000 for help.
Our experienced Brentwood medical malpractice lawyer can help you maximize your compensation award for medical bills, lost wages, and more. You can count on our legal team to stand by your side from day one. If you were injured, call our law offices to schedule a free consultation with a lawyer who can help.
Why Choose Meyers Personal Injury Law To Help Me Recover Compensation for Medical Malpractice in Brentwood?
At some point, we all have to place our trust in medical providers. We’re trusting them with one of our most valuable assets–our health and wellbeing. When that trust is violated, you can count on an experienced Brentwood personal injury attorney at Meyers Personal Injury Law.
Here’s why you should choose us after you are injured due to medical malpractice in Brentwood, TN:
- We have recovered millions of dollars for injured clients just like you.
- Our team is passionate about holding negligent medical providers responsible for their actions. We know the law and have the skills and experience to help you get every dollar you deserve.
- We’ve been recognized with five-star Google ratings from dozens of satisfied clients.
It’s never too early to take legal action. Call our Brentwood personal injury team to learn about your rights today.
Statistics on Medical Malpractice
Medical errors can be extremely dangerous. According to some reports, over 250,000 patients die due to preventable medical errors each year. The National Practitioner Data Base publishes state-by-state data on medical malpractice reports. In Tennessee alone, 471 medical malpractice claims were filed in a single year.
Of course, not all medical malpractice cases are successful. To increase your chances of holding the at-fault healthcare provider, it’s important to work with an experienced attorney who knows how to fight for you.
Medical Malpractice in Tennessee: An Overview
All medical providers are held to certain standards. Whether you were visiting your doctor for routine tests, undergoing surgery, or have been rushed to the hospital, you deserve a team that adheres to those standards.
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional ignores their responsibilities and harms a patient. It’s important to know that doctors can’t promise perfect outcomes. Even if you did suffer a bad outcome, your doctor is only responsible if they failed to adhere to the relevant standard of care.
What Is the Medical Standard of Care?
Medical malpractice cases hinge on proving that the healthcare professional deviated from the standard of care. So, what is the standard of care?
The unsatisfying answer is that it depends. The standard will depend on various factors, such as:
- The medical provider’s specialty and training
- The patient’s medical condition
- The patient’s age, general health, and medical history
Factors that are entirely unique to your case may be relevant in determining whether the doctor failed to live up to their responsibilities.
Our Attorney in Brentwood Handles All Types of Medical Negligence Claims
If you suspect you were a victim of medical negligence, contacting an experienced attorney should be your top priority. At Meyers Personal Injury Law, we handle cases involving any type of medical error, including:
- Surgical errors, including unnecessary delays, errors during a procedure, or even wrong-site surgery
- Prescription medication errors
- Emergency room errors
- Hospital negligence
- Radiology errors
- Delayed diagnosis
- Misdiagnosis, including cancer misdiagnosis
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Failure to diagnose a disease
- Anesthesia errors
- Dental errors
- Birth injuries
- Nursing negligence
We offer a free case review, so there’s no reason to wait. Any error in the medical treatment process can cause unnecessary pain, trauma, and suffering–not to mention the financial cost.
Contact us today to learn how an experienced Brentwood medical malpractice attorney can help.
How Much Money Should I Expect From My Brentwood Medical Malpractice Case?
There’s no fast answer to this question. We’ll first evaluate the unique facts of your case so we can fully understand how much you deserve.
Key facts to consider include:
- The nature of the harm involved
- Whether you will suffer irreparable or long-term harm
- Your current medical treatment costs and other expenses
- The expected future costs you will incur
- Impacts on your current earnings and future earning capacity
- How the mistake has impacted your expected lifespan and quality of life
- The nature of the doctor’s medical error
Some mistakes can never be fully corrected. Patients who suffer more permanent and dramatic harm tend to walk away with higher settlements and verdicts, when compared with patients who will recover with minimal long-term impact.
That said, consulting an experienced attorney can be critical to your case. The hospital’s insurance company may offer you a deal, but they’ll rarely offer a full settlement without a lawyer advocating on your behalf.
What Types of Compensatory Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Malpractice in Brentwood?
Your compensation award may include economic damages and non-economic damages to help you cope with your losses. You might be able to recover economic damages such as:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning power
- Specialized care costs
You might also be entitled to non-economic damages, like:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional and mental trauma
- Depression
- Humiliation and shame
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement or scarring
- Reduced lifespan
- Loss of consortium
Victims of medical negligence in Tennessee are entitled to seek compensation from any party who is legally responsible. That can include doctors, surgeons and the hospitals and medical facilities that employ them.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Tennessee?
You can hire our team at Meyers Personal Injury Law without paying a dime out of pocket. You’ll instead agree to pay a contingency fee. That fee depends completely on the amount of money we recover in your case. Once your case is resolved, you’ll pay a fixed percentage of your settlement or verdict.
Can Tennessee’s Shared Fault Laws Impact My Medical Negligence Claim?
While you obviously didn’t cause your doctor’s error, they may blame you in other ways. Maybe your doctor is claiming you didn’t follow the doctor’s orders or failed to take steps to prevent your condition from becoming worse.
Tennessee has a modified comparative negligence law. If your share of fault is greater than 50%, you lose the right to compensation. Otherwise, if your actions did, in some way, contribute to the harm you’re suffering, your damages will be reduced in proportion to your share of blame.
Why Does Medical Malpractice Occur?
Medical malpractice can involve any number of issues, including:
- Failure to properly monitor a patient’s vitals
- Ignoring or failing to recognize symptoms
- Lab mix-ups
- Ordering the wrong tests
- Misinterpreting lab results
- Communication and charting errors
- Overworked and exhausted medical staff
- Failure to refer a patient to an expert
- Unsanitary conditions
- Underqualified staff
- Failure to take a proper patient history
- Ignoring accepted procedures and protocols
Victims don’t always know why they’re suffering–they just know that something went wrong. Our team can conduct a full investigation to locate the evidence you’ll need to prove your case.
What Do I Have To Prove To Win Compensation Based on Medical Malpractice in Tennessee?
Under Tennessee law, victims of medical negligence have the burden of proof. Medical providers aren’t automatically liable for bad outcomes.
To win your case, you must prove:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care because you were their patient
- The recognized standard of care that the defendant was subject to, as established by the medical community
- They failed to satisfy the applicable standard of care, so they breached that duty
- The breach of duty caused you to suffer harm that otherwise would not have occurred
- You suffered damages
You’ll also have to establish the value of your damages.
In all medical malpractice cases, expert testimony from medical professionals is critical. Medical experts can testify about the defendant’s responsibilities and how they deviated from the relevant standard of care. Experts can also provide important information about the value of your losses.
How Much Time Do I Have To File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After a Medical Error in Tennessee?
Most victims of medical negligence have only one year from the date of the error to file a lawsuit. If you don’t discover the harm within the one-year period, you have one year from the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the harm.
Even with this one-year discovery rule, you’ll be prohibited from filing a lawsuit after three years have passed in nearly all cases. Exceptions exist in cases involving a fraudulent concealment of the facts or a foreign object that was left in your body.
Contact a Brentwood Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If you’re suffering because a healthcare professional made a mistake in Brentwood, Tennessee, call our law firm today. The experienced Brentwood medical malpractice lawyer at Meyers Personal Injury Law can help you fight to hold them accountable.
We offer a free case evaluation, so don’t hesitate to learn about your legal options.
