Fighting for Justice in Medical Negligence Cases

On a daily basis, people entrust their lives with medical professionals. Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional breaches the standard of care, resulting in a lasting injury or death. Doctors, hospitals and their staff, pharmacists and other medical professionals may be defendants in a medical malpractice claim depending on the circumstances. Medical malpractice can take on many forms and can have tragic consequences.

Your Trusted Experts in Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice cases are extremely challenging, expensive and difficult to win. Generally, hospitals, doctors and other medical professionals are reluctant to offer settlements and want to take these cases to trial. That is where we come in.

At Keith Short and Associates, P.C., we are prepared to take these cases to trial. We welcome the opportunity to do so. We have a proven track record in high-stakes medical malpractice cases. Over the years, we have recovered millions of dollars in damages for our clients. We will continue to take action against healthcare professionals who fail to abide by the standard of care.

Our resources retain top experts in various medical fields to testify that the healthcare professional deviated from the standard of care. We work with qualified experts who calculate the full financial impact of your injury. They determine the appropriate damages caused by the disabling medical condition resulting from a healthcare provider’s negligence.

What is a Medical Malpractice?

Physicians, nurses, and other medical providers must follow the standard of care when providing medical treatment to patients. This means they must provide care that aligns with the care a competent medical professional would provide. Medical malpractice occurs when the medical providers we rely upon every day make mistakes that result in harm. These mistakes might include a surgical error, a missed diagnosis, or the failure to report an important test result. If you were injured because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, you may be a victim of medical malpractice. The same is true if a loved one’s death was caused by that negligence.

General Information:

Keith Short has over two decades of experience in litigating medical malpractice claims. Common examples of medical malpractice litigation that we have handled include:

  • Surgical Errors –

    These errors can take many forms. A doctor may amputate the wrong limb or operate on the wrong part of the body. They may use unsanitary instruments. In some cases, they may even puncture an organ during surgery.

  • Keith Short has over two decades of experience in litigating medical malpractice claims. Common examples of medical malpractice litigation that we have handled include:

  • Birth Injuries – Pre-natal and delivery room medical malpractice can result in serious birth injuries such as Erb’s palsy, brain injury, nerve damage and cerebral palsy.

  • Failure to Diagnose – Many of the medical malpractice cases that we handle involve failure to diagnose heart attack, failure to diagnose stroke, or a failure to diagnose another severe medical condition by not administering the proper test. Statute of Limitations

A case for medical practice occurs when a medical provider is negligent resulting in a in injury to a patient. A wrongful death case occurs when a loved one dies as a result of a medical provider’s medical malpractice. Put another way, the only difference between a medical malpractice and wrongful death case is whether the injured patient survived.

 

In order to prove medical malpractice or wrongful death as a result of medical malpractice, 4 elements must be proved.

  • 1

    Duty: This means that an appropriate professional relationship exists between the healthcare provider and the patient.  The ultimate question is whether a “doctor-patient” relationship existed when the negligence occurred.

  • 2
    Breach of Duty: In a medical malpractice case, a medical provider must meet the requisite standard of care.  If they do not, they have breached their duty to the patient.  The standard of care is determined by medical experts.
  • 3
    Causation: It must be established that the healthcare provider’s breach of duty injured the patient. Put another way, even if a doctor did something wrong, causation is only established if there is evidence the doctor’s negligence caused direct injury.
  • 4

    Damages: If the 3 above elements are met, economic and non-economic damages can be rewarded.  These damages can include medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity and damages for pain and suffering.

Although establishing a breach of duty is often the most difficult element to prove, causation can also provide challenges because even if a doctor makes a clear mistake, he is not liable unless it can be shown that mistake resulted in injury and damages. For example, if a surgeon makes a mistake during surgery that injures the kidney but then repairs the kidney in the operating room, the surgeon would not be liable for medical malpractice since there would be no evidence that surgeon’s mistake ultimately made any difference in the outcome.

Although obvious medical malpractice does occur, this is rare. Usually, a deeper investigation is required to establish whether medical malpractice took place. If we believe you have a potential malpractice case, we will look at your medical records and have experts trained in the medical field at issue investigate further. Ultimately, our decision to move forward rests upon whether these experts believe malpractice occurred.

Proving medical malpractice requires the expertise of an expert who is trained in a similar area of medicine as the negligent medical provider. A good expert is crucial to winning a case and ensuring we get the most money we can for our clients. We take special pride in finding the very best supporting experts for the cases we handle and oftentimes these professionals are some of the very best at what they do in the world.

In Illinois, a medical malpractice case must be brought within 2 years of the date of injury or within 2 years from the date upon with the plaintiff could have reasonably discovered their injury.  For example, if a radiologist negligently fails to identify a kidney lesion later resulting in kidney cancer on an x-ray, but the patient does not find out about the lesion until another x-ray is taken 3 years later, the plaintiff has 2 years from the date they found out about the kidney lesion to file suit. This is called the “discovery rule.”  In Illinois, a loved one has three years to file suit from the date of death if a loved one’s wrongful death was caused by a medical provider’s negligence.

 

In Missouri, a medical malpractice case must be brought within 2 years of the date of injury and unlike Illinois, the discovery rule does not apply.  This means that if you think you have a case against a healthcare provider in Missouri, it is vital you have your case evaluated as quickly as possible.  Just as in Illinois, a plaintiff in a medical malpractice suit resulting in the wrongful death of a loved one has 3 years to file suit from the time of the loved one’s passing.

In Illinois, there is no cap on non-economic damages.  These damages include things like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement and loss of companionship, among other things.

Unlike Illinois, Missouri caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases and wrongful death cases caused by medical malpractice.  The damage cap for medical malpractice cases was initially capped at $400,000 in 2015 but increases annually at a rate of 1.7% meaning the cap for 2026 is set at $481,494. The damage cap for wrongful death cases and medical malpractice cases causing “catastrophic injury” was initially set at $700,000 in 2015 and increases 1.7% annually meaning the 2026 cap for these types of cases is $842,614.

See Our Results in Other Cases

It is important that if you feel you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice that you call us immediately so that we can meet and discuss your situation. There are specific time limits that specify how long we have to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Let’s Discuss Your Case

Let’s Discuss Your Case