Medical Malpractice Payouts – $73 Million Increase In Illinois Since 2014
Medical Malpractice Overview
Medical doctors and other health care providers are may be liable for injuries that they cause due to their negligence just like other people are. Medical Malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other health care provider causes an injury to a patient or even death.
It is often difficult to prove that they were negligent, because the state of the art requires a high degree of education and training. It takes a person with similar education to determine whether the medical professional failed to live up to the standard of care expected of them. Such cases can become very complicated. Attorneys for victims of medical malpractice must know or learn about the illness and treatment, or neglect, that gave rise to the injury.
Analysis by Diederich Healthcare
Diederich Healthcare, which is based in Carbondale, Illinois analyzed medical malpractice payouts in every state for the last few years and recently in 2016. According to their study, Illinois has one of the highest total payouts of $274,866,750 million in 2016. Payouts continue to increase in Illinois however overall in the U.S. there has been a slight decrease in payouts since 2015.
Total Payouts in Illinois by Year
- 2014 – $201,849,500
- 2015 – $258,191,000
- 2016 – $274,866,750
Totals Payment Amounts by Malpractice Allegation in the U.S.
Severity of outcome in the U.S.
Average Payment Amounts in the U.S.
For more details on The Diederich Healthcare analysis, please click here.
Understanding Medical Malpractice Allegations
Diagnosis – 34%
- Diagnosis malpractice could be a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a medical condition, illness, or injury. When a doctor’s diagnosis mistake leading to incorrect treatment, delayed treatment, or no treatment, a patient’s condition can be much worse.
Surgery – 24%
- Surgery malpractice is an act of negligence upon a patient by a surgeon, anesthesiologist, surgical nurse, or other medical staff involved.
Treatment – 18%
- Treatment and diagnosis malpractice are very similar. If you physician negligently misdiagnoses you for a condition, it is likely that the treatment they prescribe will also be improper.
Obstetrics – 10%
- Obstetrics or gynecological negligence is when an injury or death occurs during pregnancy and/or during childbirth are due to the following medical problems such as excessive vaginal bleeding, placental abnormalities, excessively long labor, hemorrhage of the mother during pregnancy, etc.
Medication – 6%
- There are many types of medication/prescription drug errors given to patients from nurses, doctors, hospitals, or pharmacy departments. Some of the most common include: administering the patient the wrong medication, mislabeling the medication, administering the patient the wrong dosage, failing to warn the patient of the common side effects of the medication and more.
Monitoring – 6%
- Monitoring malpractice happens when a doctor or health care provider fails to monitor their patient. Some common situations include after anesthesia has been administered, when a mother is in labor, when a patient is undergoing surgery, or when a patient is receiving treatment.
The attorneys at Sam C. Mitchell & Associates have the training and experience necessary to tackle the difficult legal issues that arise in medical malpractice cases. Contact us today through our convenient online form. Begin your road to recovery now.
We offer a free initial consultation and you pay us only if we succeed in getting you the compensation you seek.