Medical Malpractice

Mississippi Medical Malpractice Attorneys

What is Medical Malpractice?

Many people believe there are simply too many “frivolous” medical malpractice lawsuits across the nation. On the contrary, evidence shows there may be a virtual epidemic of medical negligence in our country. Dangerous drugs and medical devices, as well as negligence on the part of medical providers, result in serious harm to hundreds of thousands of Americans. Further, of all those injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice, only a small percentage actually file a medical malpractice claim. Those who do file a claim almost always have a motivation beyond financial—they want to know what went wrong, and they want to ensure others do not suffer the same harm.

It is also of interest to note that the threat of liability actually improves healthcare outcomes across the board. If you or a loved one are the victims of medical malpractice, it is important that you have an experienced Mississippi medical malpractice attorney by your side from start to finish. Medical malpractice is an area of the law which requires not only deep legal knowledge but also a thorough understanding of medical practices. At Stroud, Flechas & Dalton, we have both—and will use them to your advantage in a medical malpractice claim.

When a healthcare professional provides substandard care—care that is below the accepted standards of the medical profession—and a patient is injured as a result, the healthcare professional must be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims differ from personal injury claims in that a healthcare provider’s negligence is not sufficient to support a medical malpractice lawsuit. A bad outcome from a treatment is also insufficient to support a medical malpractice claim. The conduct of the individual must be compared to the conduct of other medical professionals in the same field and in the same geographical region to establish whether the standard of care was violated.

How is Medical Malpractice Determined?

A successful medical malpractice claim must have the following elements in order to be successful:

• There must be a doctor-patient relationship—you hired the doctor (or another medical professional), and the doctor agreed to treat you in his or her capacity as a medical professional.
• It must be shown that your doctor acted—or failed to act—as another competent doctor would have done, given the same circumstances.
• It must be shown that this action or failure to act directly resulted in your injuries or in death.
• Finally, it must be proven that the injuries you sustained as a result of your doctor’s actions or failure to act led to specific damages—additional medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, or pain and suffering.

What are the Most Common Types of Medical Malpractice?

There are many different types of medical malpractice; the following are those which are the most common:

• A delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis can significantly compromise your health. When a serious illness such as cancer, an infection, appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy, or many others are not properly diagnosed or are not diagnosed in a timely manner, medical malpractice may have occurred. A doctor may fail to note a patient’s particular symptoms, fail to properly listen to the patient, order incorrect tests (or no tests), misinterpret the test results, or fail to obtain an adequate medical history. Any of these can result in a misdiagnosis or lack of diagnosis, leading to patient harm.
• Post-op negligence can result in internal bleeding, infections at the surgical site, sepsis, viral infections, tissue death, organ perforation, and more. Healthcare professionals must properly monitor patients following a surgical procedure as well as providing detailed instructions to patients for post-op care.
• Anesthesia errors are all-too-common and can be the result of defective equipment, administration of too much or too little anesthesia, administration of the wrong anesthesia drug, improperly administered oxygen during the surgery, or improper monitoring of the patient. Anesthesia errors can be extremely serious, causing long-term repercussions, or even death.
• Emergency room errors are usually the result of understaffing combined with the chaotic, often rushed environment. Despite this, healthcare professionals who work in the ER are charged with exercising a high standard of medical care. Medical conditions must be properly evaluated in a timely manner, those on staff must be properly trained, the conditions of the ER must be sanitary, proper tests must be ordered (and the results of those tests properly interpreted), and full patient histories must be taken. Medication errors, prescription errors, surgical errors, and failure to monitor the patient are all possible causes of medical malpractice.
• Hospital malpractice occurs for many different reasons, including the following:
  • Patient neglect;
  • Refusal of necessary treatment;
  • Improperly sterilized equipment;
  • Improperly administered anesthesia;
  • Lack of proper diagnostic tests;
  • Incorrect drug administration;
  • Incorrect dosage of a drug;
  • Misinterpretation of test results, a patient’s chart, or x-rays;
  • Staph infections among post-op patients;
  • Serious surgical errors, or
  • Lack of consent by the patient for a surgical procedure.

Can Mississippi’s Statute of Limitations Affect Your Medical Malpractice Claim?

Each state has its own statutes of limitations for different types of legal claims, ranging from six months to eight years—the time in which you are allowed to bring a legal claim. In the state of Mississippi, the statute of limitations is two years for a personal injury or death arising from the professional services of a health care provider. This two-year “clock” begins to run on the date the “alleged act, omission or neglect” occurred.

Are there time limits to sue for injuries in a Mississippi medical malpractice case?

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Alternatively, this date could also be the date on which the act, omission, or neglect was discovered—when you knew, or should have known, that you were injured as the result of a healthcare provider’s error. The state of Mississippi also has seven-year statutes of repose. Even if you discover (after the initial two years) that you suffered an injury due to a medical error, the time cannot extend past seven years total. The only exceptions to the seven-year statute of repose occur when a foreign object is left in a patient’s body during a surgical procedure, or when the medical error was concealed through a healthcare provider’s fraudulent actions.

Stroud, Flechas & Dalton Can Help with Your Mississippi Medical Malpractice Claim

At Stroud, Flechas & Dalton, we have successfully litigated many medical malpractice claims on behalf of our clients. As with most personal injury matters, we handle medical malpractice claims on a contingency basis. This means that if you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid. If you have a loved one that has been killed or seriously injured due to the negligence of a hospital or physician in Mississippi or Tennessee, it is important for you to speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney to evaluate the claim.

We will thoroughly evaluate the facts of your potential claim, providing you with answers to your questions and the information you need. The decision to sue a doctor or other medical professional is never an easy one; at Stroud, Flechas & Dalton, we understand your situation and will look out for your rights and your future, allowing you time to heal, recover, or grieve the loss of a loved one.

For more information on medical malpractice in your local community, view our Mississippi or Memphis, Tennessee pages.

In addition, if you have suffered a heart attack, cardiac arrest, or even have lost a loved one due to the potential side effects of NaturLyte and GranuFlo acid concentrate (Fresenius products often used for dialysis treatment) or Fentanyl and Methadone, contact Stroud, Flechas & Dalton today.