If you have suffered a personal injury, permanent disability, or a wrongful death of a family member resulting from medical malpractice in Illinois or throughout the country, you may have a right to monetary recompense. Medical malpractice cases can be a very complex process so hiring a knowledgeable and experienced lawyer is crucial.
Illinois medical malpractice lawyer, David Kremin, and his affiliates are committed and qualified lawyers with years of experience in medical malpractice cases. Our affiliated nationwide and Illinois lawyers annually win large money rewards for our injured clients.
Medical Malpractice Cases Defined
Medical malpractice is the act or omission of a medical practice by a health care physician or dentists which differs from customary standards of practice in the medical community and in which causes harm to the patient.
Basically, medical malpractice is professional negligence (by a healthcare provider) that results in an injury. Negligence can include incorrect diagnosis, treatment, or illness management, and can involve the doctor, hospital or health facility, or government agency that oversees the hospital or health facility.
Loss of Limb due to Negligence, Malpractice or Other Reasons
In one year, nearly two million people in the United States were missing at least one limb. Each year, people lose limbs due to surgical amputation which is normally the result of diabetes. Many losses of limbs such as arms and legs are due to an accident or malpractice. The rate per year of loss of limbs after this type of trauma is approximately 6 per 100,000 persons.
You can lose your limb in many types of accidents, such as car accidents, construction accidents, slip and fall accidents and medical malpractice. The result of a severe limb injury is where the limb cannot be saved by medical personnel in prevailing when the accident is significant and the trauma significantly injures that limb. Additionally, the accident itself results in the limb itself being severed. Severe fractures, burns, malpractice and other accidents can result in limb injuries so severe the limb has to be amputated so the person does not lose anymore blood and prevent death. Many people who have lost limbs, since they lived without it, there are surgical procedures which transplant loss of limbs. In some cases, a prosthetic arm, leg or hand can be an option. Prosthetic limbs may sound simple but must be made for the individual and learning how to use one is a very hard task and extremely expensive.
We understand that loss of a limb can be a complete change to a person for life. It is important to talk to our law firm immediately so we can get you compensation to pay for medical treatment and prosthetic devices.
An individual who lost her leg at a young age while riding her bicycle. She was young and strong and not willing to give up her life. She is obtaining a prosthetic leg. First you have to master crutches to re-center your balance and be sure your wound is completely healed, and then get coached in walking with the prosthetic leg. Resulting from an amputation of a leg, sometimes there has to be a second surgery to prepare the limb for a prosthetic leg or arm. A terrible result of losing a limb is called phantom pain. This is caused by irritated nerve endings and the victim feels as if a limb is still there and often experiencing pain, itching or cramps.
If you have lost a limb in the course of your employment, workers compensation allows payment of all medical bills which include prosthetic devices. Workers compensation will also pay most of your lost wages and a lump sum settlement for your permanent loss. To understand this type of injury and compensation, first you have to understand what an amputation is. It refers to the removal of a body part, either due to an accident or surgically resulting from trauma. Common amputations include fingers, toes, hands, feet, arm, leg and even an eye may need to be removed if badly injured.
Amputation can result from medical negligence such as surgical errors, misdiagnosis or delay of treatment.
The purpose of a medical negligent claim is to recover compensation for the pain and suffering which was caused by the physician or medical staff’s negligence. To try to ensure the amputees quality of life is maintained as high a standard as possible. What is taken into account is financial loss, such as loss of earnings, cost of prosthetic devices for the present device and for future devices. In that prosthetic devices do not last long, they need to be updated after periods of time, especially if the loss is to a child who is growing. At each stage of the child’s growth a new prosthetic device would have to be made and replaced. This could cost millions of dollars in the long run.
If your loss of limb is due to negligence, it is important for you to contact our law firm and law firms with special experience in medical negligent cases. These lawyers will secure expert witnesses to report on the standard of care the patient should have received. As a result of them not properly receiving the care they should have received, they would be held responsible and they or their insurance company would have to pay for all damages resulting from their negligence. One may think that amputation would guarantee disability benefits from insurance, the State or Government, but this is not always true.
The disabled person who incurs a limb amputation must meet specific criteria set forth in social security official listings for amputation. Social services do not take into account how you lost a limb as long as you meet one of the following criteria set forth below:
- Amputation of both hands;
- Amputation of one or both legs at or above the ankle;
- You must not be able to walk effectively;
- Amputation of one leg up to the hip; and
- Pelvic amputation.
Social security will look at whether or not you can walk effectively on an artificial leg, and whether you are capable of substantially normal activities. If you have a lower limb amputation, you may also be restricted at what kind of surfaces you can safely walk on, as well as have restrictions around crawling, kneeling, climbing, bending at the knees and activities which require good balance.
For upper limb amputation, social security will look at your ability to grasp things. Social security then determines what type of work you are still capable of doing despite the limitation from your amputation. If social security finds you are capable of performing any job you used to have, or any other job, social security can deny your claim. If social security determines the symptoms associated with the amputation are so limiting that there is no job you can perform, you will be awarded benefits under what is called Medical Vocational Allowance. Accordingly, in addition to a lawsuit for someone’s negligence, you should also bring a social security claim for disability.
Recovering from an amputation can require months of medical treatment and physical therapy, and still often results in long-term disability. While medical and employment benefits can initially off-set some of these costs, the expense of future medical treatment, prosthesis, pain medication, lost wages, and pain and suffering can be substantial. At the law offices of David K. Kremin & Associates, and its affiliated firms, our personal injury lawyers work with medical experts, medical economists, and leg para-planners. In cases involving gross negligence, we may even seek punitive damages to compensate our clients for pain and suffering.
If you or a loved one has lost a limb as a result of someone’s negligence in a car or truck accident, motorcycle, railroad, construction, industrial or amusement park accidents, you will need an attorney. It is important you contact our law firm immediately for various reasons. We need to secure all the evidence necessary to prove your case, because over time people’s memories fade and evidence is lost. Moreover, there is a statute of limitation which limits the time period a person may bring a claim for an accident or for someone’s negligence. Failure to file a lawsuit or applicable documentation within a certain period of time, will bar the injured party from bringing a claim or being compensated. Accordingly, we urge you to contact David K. Kremin & Associates immediately for a free consultation at 1(800)ASK-A-LAWYER or 1(800)275-2529.