Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Dallas

Our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas represent clients who have been harmed due to medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, birth injuries, and other types of medical negligence. From our office in Dallas, we help clients in surrounding areas and throughout the State of Texas.

Facts about Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the ninth most populous city in the United States. It is the third largest city in Texas. The current population of the City of Dallas is just over 1.2 million. The Dallas-Fort Worth Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is comprised of 12 counties, including:

• Collin
• Dallas
• Delta
• Denton
• Ellis
• Hunt
• Johnson
• Kaufman
• Parker
• Rockwall
• Tarrant
• Wise

The estimated population of the MSA is 6.9 million. Dallas is a diverse metropolitan area, and has recently been named one of the fastest-growing and most desirable places to live in the U.S. Desirable neighborhoods include Uptown, Preston Hollow, and Lake Highlands. There are also notable attractions like the Dallas World Aquarium and the Trinity River Audubon Center.

With all this in mind, it is no surprise that Dallas is increasingly diverse. Currently, the population of Dallas is comprised of:

• Caucasian – 61.7%
• African American – 24.3%
• Hispanic – 36.8%
• Asian – 3.3%
• Native American – 0.26%

Dallas has a notable presence for their healthcare environment. In 2014 and 2015, 18 hospitals in Dallas-Fort Worth were included in the annual “Best Hospitals” ranking. Baylor University Medical Center, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas are consistently recognized as among the best hospitals in the U.S.

The healthcare system in Dallas makes up about 15 percent of the economy and workforce. It generates around $52 billion in revenue each year for the area.

Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Dallas

Everyone relies on their healthcare providers to accurately diagnose and treat whatever ails them. We rely on healthcare providers to review our records, recognize risk factors, refer us as needed, and perform any necessary procedures with the utmost care. Unfortunately, sometimes healthcare providers make mistakes, or make errors in judgment. The result is patients who are left with injuries, questions, and lots of emotions.

At MedMalFirm.com, our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas has witnessed countless instances of medical mistakes or negligence. What makes matters worse is the fact that healthcare providers often try to hide mistakes, which can cause injuries or illness to worsen. It can also complicate your ability to hold responsible parties accountable.

Anyone who is concerned about the level of care they have received should explore their situation with the help of a medical malpractice lawyer.

Examples of Medical Malpractice

There are many situations that may fall into the category of medical malpractice. Some of the most common examples of negligence that may result in a medical malpractice claim include:

• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
• Failure to recognize symptoms
• Ignoring laboratory results
• Inaccurately interpreting laboratory results
• Failure to adequate review patient medical records and history
• Failure to order proper diagnostic testing
• Performing unnecessary surgery
• Surgical errors – operating on the wrong patient or the wrong body part, or leaving surgical tools behind in the body
• Birth injuries – failure to order Cesarean section, improper use of delivery tools, forced delivery, improper use of medications for childbirth, failure to monitor maternal or fetal vitals and health
• Medication errors – wrong medication or dose, improper administration, failure to warn of side effects, failure to consider allergies
• Poor aftercare or follow up
• Premature discharge from hospital

This list is quite concerning, but is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are many other situations and unique qualities of healthcare that could qualify as negligence or malpractice. The best way to determine if your case qualifies as medical malpractice is to contact a medical malpractice lawyer to discuss your case.

Examples of What is Not Medical Malpractice

While there are many examples of what may qualify as medical malpractice, there are a few clear examples of what is not medical malpractice.  These examples include:

• Your Condition Worsens: If you are undergoing treatment and your condition worsens, your healthcare provider may not be guilty of malpractice. Sometimes healthcare providers cannot cure an illness, despite their best attempts and all that science has to offer. There are also many variables to treatment, such as the patients overall health, response to treatment, and the condition itself. As long as your healthcare provider is treating you with reasonable care in line with medical standards, then your case most likely would not qualify for medical malpractice.
• Untreatable Conditions: Not all health conditions are treatable or “curable”. If your healthcare provider has made an accurate diagnosis and initiated appropriate treatment for your condition, then he or she cannot be guilty of medical malpractice because no negligence has occurred. Healthcare providers are not legally responsible for health outcomes resulting from naturally-occurring illnesses, including those that become incurable, or terminal.

If you need help determining if your situation constitutes medical malpractice, contact a medical malpractice lawyer at MedMalFirm.com.

Dallas Birth Injury Lawyers

Bringing a child into the world is an incredible experience. It is not an easy task, and there are many ups and downs related to pregnancy, labor and delivery, and parenthood as a whole.  Unfortunately, what should be one of the happiest times of your life can quickly become a nightmare if you or your child are injured during labor or delivery.

Birth injuries occur far too often in American hospitals. Sometimes honest mistakes are made, or unavoidable complications arise. However, the truth is that most birth injuries are the result of healthcare provider negligence. At MedMalFirm.com, our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas represents clients who have been injured during labor and delivery, or shortly thereafter. We have helped many clients whose birth injury case involve a negligent healthcare provider.

Negligent healthcare providers need to be held accountable.

One of the most troubling aspects of birth injuries is the fact that the victims are our most vulnerable family members.  During labor and delivery, babies are extremely vulnerable and their bodies and immune systems have not fully developed. When birth injuries occur, the results are often devastating. Some of the most common birth injuries include:

• Cerebral palsy
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
• Brain damage
• Erb’s palsy
• Broken bones

Understanding Cerebral Palsy as a Birth Injury

It is important to understand that children who suffer a birth injury are considered at a higher risk of developing conditions like cerebral palsy. In this context, a birth injury itself could be considered a symptom worth evaluating by healthcare providers. The types of birth injuries commonly linked to cerebral palsy include:

• Hypoxia: Occurs when the baby does not have adequate oxygen flow to the brain during labor and delivery.
• Brachial Plexus Injury: Occurs when the nerves in the brachial plexus are injured during birth. The brachial plexus nerves are the nerves that control the shoulder, arm, and hand.  
• Shoulder Dystocia: Occurs when the infant becomes stuck in the birth canal after the head is delivered, requiring more forceful delivery or a c-section.
• Instrument Injuries: Injuries that occur due to forceps, vacuum, or other instruments used inappropriately or in excess.

What are the Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy?

Depending on the cause and severity, the symptoms of cerebral palsy may vary. The most common symptoms include stiffness, tightness, or spastic movement of the arms or legs. In more severe cases, the child may have limited mobility in crawling or reaching, or may have difficulty lifting his or her head without support.

How Do You Diagnose Cerebral Palsy?

In the majority of cases, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy is made within the first two years of the child’s life. More severe cases, however, such as those linked to a birth injury, may be made just weeks following birth.

Diagnosing cerebral palsy generally consists of a combination of tests and evaluations, which may vary somewhat depending on the child’s age and overall health. Some of the common steps in the diagnosis process include:

• Review of prenatal, maternal, and paternal health records
• Review of labor and delivery medical records including APGAR score and newborn evaluations
• Evaluating the child based on developmental milestone and growth standards
• Testing reflexes, muscle tone, posture, and coordination
• Evaluate the child’s ability to focus and understand caregivers
• Completion of tests including MRI, CT scan, EEG, or cranial ultrasound
• Completion of laboratory tests including blood, urinalysis, or genetic testing

If your child is diagnosed with cerebral palsy due to a birth injury, it is important to discuss your situation with a medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas who is skilled in handling birth injury claims.

Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in Dallas

At MedMalFirm.com, our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas understands that entrusting a loved one’s care to the staff and administration at a nursing home carries with it certain non-negotiable expectations of the quality of care to which the resident is entitled. Proper nutrition, clean living conditions, proper medical care, and respectful treatment top the list of expectations that should never be compromised.

Our lawyer helps clients understand the rights of nursing home residents and the responsibilities of nursing homes and staff. Is it worth it to contact a nursing home abuse lawyer in Dallas if you find that a facility fails to meet your expectations in one of these areas? Yes! Absolutely!

Talk to a nursing home abuse lawyer to discuss what exactly constitutes abuse.  There are many caregiver actions or inactions that could indicate abuse or neglect.

Every nursing home resident should be treated within the standards of care. If you have questions or concerns about your loved one’s care, contact MedMalFirm.com.  Our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas is familiar with the fine line between preferences not being met and neglect that is truly abuse. We can answer your questions, address your concerns, and help ensure that your loved one’s legal rights are being upheld.

Nursing home residents have the right to:

• Being treated with dignity and respect.
• Confidentiality of personal and medical records.
• Access to appropriate medical and pharmaceutical care.
• Freedom from physical, mental, or verbal abuse.
• Access to social activities inside and outside the facility.
• Freedom from discrimination.

State and federal laws, standards, and regulations protect nursing home residents by outlining what is expected of nursing homes.

What Nursing Homes are Expected to Provide for Residents

If you have a loved one living in a nursing home, you have certain expectations about what is provided. Nursing homes should provide fundamental care that is in accordance with accepted standards, regulations, and the needs of each resident.  This includes:

Proper Nutrition

Proper nutrition is so important for a nursing home resident. Many residents will experience a sudden and noticeable decrease in quality of life without proper nourishment and hydration since their overall health is generally poor. Any signs of malnutrition or dehydration should be taken seriously. Get medical attention first, then investigate the reasons why malnutrition or dehydration occurred.

Proper Medical Care

Likewise proper medical care is crucial to the well-being of a nursing home resident. It is likely the reason they require a nursing home at all. Immobile residents must be turned and repositioned to prevent bedsores. Medication must be administered correctly and on time.  Physical therapy and exercise must be encouraged and observed. Health deficiencies could indicate serious problems with the nursing home’s administration, staffing, or ability to provide quality medical care.

Clean and Sanitary Environment

Cleanliness and respectful treatment can be harder to define because personal tastes will vary (we all know that pack-rat in the family). However, there are certain red flags to keep in mind. A nursing home resident’s bedding and living area should always be fresh and sanitary, and should be free from any spills, vermin, or dangerous clutter. If on multiple visits you have found your loved one sleeping in soiled sheets, this is likely the norm, is abuse, and should not be tolerated.

Being Treated with Respect and Dignity

As for respectful treatment, every nursing home resident has a right to be treated with dignity and respect. That includes being treated with dignity and respect in terms of who they are, their preferences, their religion, and their privacy. Be on the lookout for any complaints from your loved one about name-calling, discrimination, or degrading treatment from the staff or other residents. Caring for the elderly is not a job for everyone, and these complaints can sometimes point to a pattern of abuse.

Dallas Pressure Ulcer Lawyer

Decubitus ulcers, also called bedsores or pressure ulcers, are one of the most common preventable injuries affecting hospital patients and nursing home residents. Though they are preventable, it is estimated that 1-3 million Americans develop decubitus ulcers each year in the healthcare setting. Many of these injuries are the result of medical malpractice or negligence.

There is no medical treatment that prevents the formation of pressure ulcers. Instead, preventing pressure ulcers is part of clinical guidelines and the medical standards of care. Every patient has the right to quality healthcare that meets these standards.

Failure to adhere to medical standards and guidelines is not acceptable, and puts patient lives at risk.

Quality care that meets accepted standards is not something that you pay for. Rather, it is something that you are legally entitled to. Preventable pressure ulcers or medical mistakes cost patients and their loved ones unimaginable pain and loss. Patients and their loved ones should not bear the burden of substandard care.

Information about Pressure Ulcers

A pressure ulcer forms when the skin on bony parts of the body has been pressed against a surface for too long. Under the weight of the patient’s own body weight, the skin of the affected area starts to show irritation as the blood flow is interrupted. This redness or irritation should be immediately recognized by responsible caregivers and action should be taken to keep pressure off this skin to allow the blood flow to return.

If blood flow and oxygen are not restored to the inflamed area, the pressure ulcer will progress. Eventually, blisters or craters begin to form on the outer layers of skin. The skin has been under pressure and without adequate blood flow for so long that the outer layers of the skin have begun to die. Clearly, this is a very painful injury, which left untreated will progress into a truly horrifying one.

If you notice blisters or shallow craters on your bed-bound or wheel-chair bound family member, this could be an early stage pressure ulcer.

Signs of a pressure ulcer may include:

• Skin is inflamed, red, or warm to the touch
• The affected area is itchy or painful
• There is an obvious blister surrounded by redness
• There is a crater with an open wound
• Inflamed skin appears to be dying or “sloughing” off

Pressure ulcers are often a sign that your loved one is not getting the care that he or she deserves.

Unfortunately, even if family members notice wounds and get help, many victims of hospital or nursing home neglect will experience third and fourth stage bedsores because the wounds were allowed to progress without proper care for so long. At these stages, wounds are horrifically painful, are difficult to treat, and can be fatal.

Early recognition is the key to treating pressure ulcers properly. Appropriate treatment reduces the risk of infection and complications.

As with any open wound, infection is a concern. For a patient with a weakened immune system, an infection could cause overwhelming sepsis and death. Even a non-fatal infection will increase the cost of your loved one’s care. These additional costs could have been prevented by adequate preventative care.

If your loved one has developed a pressure ulcer, he or she has suffered enough. They, and your family, should not be responsible for the cost of a preventable injury.

Bowel Perforation Lawyer in Dallas

After surgery, every patient expects to be monitored for all the complications that surgeons warn about prior to the procedure. Every human body is different, and everyone reacts in a somewhat unique way to surgery. Therefore, it’s understandable when some of those risks become your reality.

However, it is not wise to assume that any unfavorable outcome was an unavoidable and commonly expected risk of surgery. When postoperative complications, like bowel perforations, occur it is often due to the negligence of the surgeon or another medical team member.

Generally, some of the causes of bowel perforations include:

• Surgical Error
• Gunshot Wound
• Stab Wound
• Swallowing a sharp object
• Swallowing a toxic substance

Most often, bowel perforations follow medical procedures and surgeries.

How Does a Bowel Perforation Occur?

A bowel perforation is a cut or puncture wound to the bowels, most commonly the small or large intestine. Bowel perforations can be caused by medical conditions, or by human negligence or malice.

Medical conditions that lead to a bowel perforation are related to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These conditions include:

• Diverticulitis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Crohn’s disease
• Strangulated hernia
• Peptic ulcer
• Forceful vomiting

Bowel perforations caused by human negligence or malicious acts of violence include:

• Stab wound to the abdomen
• Gunshot wound to the abdomen
• Severe trauma to the abdominal area
• Swallowing a sharp object
• Swallowing a toxic or corrosive substance

Anyone with a bowel perforation caused by a medical error or criminal act should contact a lawyer right away to find out what steps to take to protect their legal rights. Bowel perforations are a serious medical condition, and there are numerous serious and expensive complications that can result, including sepsis.

Is it Worth it to Call a Dallas Bowel Perforation Lawyer?

If your hospital stay was prolonged because of complications after abdominal surgery, contact a medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas at MedMalFirm.com to discuss your treatment. There is nothing to lose because the initial consultation is free.

The average patient doesn’t have the medical knowledge and training to determine if their experience constitutes malpractice, and the hospital probably won’t tell you. Only a team of highly trained legal and medical professionals can determine if your bowel perforation could have been avoided.

What Costs Can be Recovered in a Bowel Perforation Malpractice Case?

Every case is different, so there is never a guarantee of any amount of compensation. However, before your case is ever scheduled to appear before a court, a medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas will collect information about:

• Your medical expenses
• Any future expense you may expect because of your bowel perforation and its complications
• Work you lost because of your bowel injury
• Any future work you may lose because of it
• Other additional costs you have incurred like additional child care, rehabilitation services, or medical devices

This information will give your lawyer an idea of the financial damage your bowel perforation caused you, and in that way provide a concrete starting point for negotiations.

Many medical malpractice claims are settled without ever going to trial. If no settlement can be reached and your case does proceed to trial, your bowel perforation lawyer in Dallas will seek damages intended to compensate you for:

• Actual and future medical bills and medications
• Actual and potential loss of income
• Potential increase in cost of living
• Pain and suffering
• Psychological damage
• Legal fees and court costs

If your experience after surgery was traumatic, it is possible that you are a victim of medical malpractice. You can’t count on healthcare providers to disclose an error that they made in your care. That’s why it is important that you take action if you have a bowel perforation and suspect medical negligence.

When to Call a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Dallas

If you are concerned that you or a loved one are victims of medical malpractice, birth injuries, or nursing home abuse – take action immediately. Contact MedMalFirm.com to speak with our medical malpractice lawyer in Dallas about the standards of care and your legal rights.