The True Cost of a Lifelong Medical Injury

Doctors take an oath to “first do no harm” and we trust the medical profession to take care of us when we are our most vulnerable and at our weakest. But we all know that medical errors happen and chances are you or someone you know has been the victim of a medical error. It is difficult to get a firm number on the how many lifelong medical injuries are the result of medical malpractice but a cursory review of the headlines gives a chilling snapshot: birth injuries, double amputations, paralysis, anesthesia that didn’t work during surgery, misdiagnosis, it’s a one-eye-open list of things you never want to have happen to you or a loved one.

The financial impact of a lifelong medical malpractice injury is usually significant because it spans a lifetime. Think about it. There are direct medical expenses and all the medical care the injury requires from home care, medications, physical therapy to specialized home modifications. There’s the loss of earning capacity. A lifelong injury often means the patient can never return to work. If the injured person was responsible for a household income it also means the members of the household face immediate financial peril. The intangible cost may be more problematic to quantify but no less significant. Being dependent on everyone else to do things for you; no ability to continue your hobbies; struggles with physical pain, depression.

The life you had is gone and has been replaced with some new version of living you did not choose. Lifelong medical malpractice lawsuits are in many ways unlike any other kind of litigation. To ensure that you are compensated for the life you lost and have to replace at great expense, usually in millions and millions of dollars, requires an extraordinary legal team who knows litigating lifelong injury medical malpractice in Illinois. In Illinois, there is only one firm for an Illinois medical malpractice lawyer, you need Vinkler Law.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits in Illinois: Know Your Rights 

Certificate of Merit: 

Before you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Illinois, you must comply with a specific section of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure which was instituted in 1985 specifically to avoid frivolous lawsuits. The rule requires a legal team to consult with a qualified health professional who practice in the same specialty as the medical team you are charging with negligence. Your legal team is then required to have the independent medical experts meticulously review your medical records and provide a written documentation report stating there is a “reasonable and meritorious cause” for the lawsuit.

This critical step means if you are pursuing a medical malpractice case, you want to be sure you are working with a premier legal team that has immediate access to highly qualified, trustworthy medical experts. Vinkler Law has been winning medical malpractice cases in Illinois for close to 40 years and have a 95% success rate for their clients. Their reputation in lifelong medical malpractice lawsuits is national recognized and Vinkler Law’s access to the best medical expertise is unparalleled. Illinois’s standard for filing medical malpractice cases is, some legal experts assert, the toughest in the nation. To ensure you even have a chance of being compensated for the lifelong injury you have sustained through medical malpractice requires deep legal knowledge, unimpeachable medical expertise and a tireless commitment to finding the truth. If you have been a victim of medical malpractice in Chicago, there is only one Illinois medical malpractice lawer you want, Vinkler Law.

Medical Malpractice Cases: A Long Journey to the Courtroom

Movies and television drama about medical malpractice cases make it look like everything happens in the courtroom. When in fact, the case is often won or loss in the investigation process along the way. The large health care systems and the even larger insurance companies are already working behind the scenes to protect their interests and to close the case. Securing justice for a lifelong injury is not just about making your case in a courtroom in front of a jury. The case is usually won or lost during the investigation phase, long before a trial begins. Make no mistake, fighting BIG insurance companies and large health care systems requires highly specialized, advanced legal medical expertise. You need a firm that specializes in lifelong medical malpractice litigation.

The good news is Vinkler Law is exceptional at medical malpractice lawsuits and has been winning lifelong medical malpractice injury cases for decades. The experts at Vinkler Law know what to do and where to start.

Medical Records for a Medical Malpractice Lifelong Injury in Illinois

The good news is insurance companies require documentation in order for hospitals and medical professionals to be reimbursed. The Vinkler Law team subpoenas your electronic medical record. Analyzing this digital footprint is just one of the many areas in lifelong medical malpractice that Vinkler Law excels. They do not just comb through the record, they take the deeper dive to detail what notes have been entered and then altered. Medical records are routinely reviewed, and notes are often changed upon review and re-entered. The key is making note of the changes and how the changes may impact the description of your medical care and your condition. These data points both may be relevant to your lifelong injury. 

For instance: what if a medical resident claims they checked your vitals during evening rounds, but the audit trail shows they never logged into the system during that shift, that’s proof of negligence. If a health care provider goes back into the system days after an error to change their clinical notes and justify a bad decision, the metadata will expose the cover-up. This is painstaking work and you only want the best legal team to handle this detail work. The proof you may need for your lifelong injury malpractice case may very well be in your medical record and if it is, Vinkler Law will find it. 

Hospital Protocols and Medical Malpractice in Illinois

Hospitals have protocols and procedures for just about everything and they should. Health care professionals in hospitals care for us when we first enter this world and sometimes when we are at our weakest. Vinkler Law will meticulously review the hospital’s protocols to ensure that any protocol that was relevant to your medical care was practiced to the full extent. Whether it is administering a medication at specific times; changing a wound dressing, reading a monitor, whatever the protocol is, it is essential it was practiced to the letter of the stipulated guidelines. When it comes to sustaining lifelong medical malpractice injury, every detail of your medical care matters and Vinkler Law understand this.  

The time and attention to the meticulous review of hospital protocols and your care is one more key step Vinkler Law, your next Illinois medical malpractice lawyer takes to build your case. 

Access to the Premier Medical Malpractice Experts with Vinkler Law

Remember, in Illinois, to file a medical malpractice suit, a qualified medical expert in the same field as the physician or surgeon who care for you has to review your case and sign a legal document attesting that there is a “reasonable and meritorious” case for this lawsuit. This is highly relevant; physicians and surgeons take this responsibility seriously.   

Vinkler Law’s reputation in lifelong-injury medical malpractice suits means their team has access to the most reputable and trusted clinicians in the country. At Vinkler Law their caring team takes the time to sit down with medical experts across all specialties in medicine and meticulously go through every detail of the lab results, medical and surgical notes, imaging tests to determine what went wrong, where, when and why. Investigating lifelong medical malpractice injury requires superior investigative research abilities. An average personal injury law firm does not cut it. Lifelong medical malpractice lawsuits are unlike any other litigation, and you need a highly skilled sophisticated legal team with access to the best medical experts in the country. You need Vinkler Law. 

Depositions 

Securing the signed affidavit means Vinkler can now file your case for trial. To prepare for trial, the Vinkler Law team will begin to depose the relevant medical professionals from your care team. Another core reason why you want the expertise of Vinkler Law, an experienced Illinois medical malpractice lawyer, managing the depositions. 

The medical professionals will be brief by hospital lawyers on how to handle the deposition and answer questions. The medical professionals will be quite skilled to handle the questions carefully. But they will be no match for the legal experts at Vinkler Law. The good news is that Vinkler Law’s legal team is skilled at getting at the truth and has the finesse and patience to successfully manage depositions with medical professionals. This is where Vinkler Law establishes for the record when protocols were not followed or medical record notes were amended. Slowly the case for negligence begins to build.  

The Power of Advanced Medical-Legal Expertise 

It should be clear by now that lifelong injury medical malpractice cases are unlike any other litigation. Think about it: the stakes are huge: this is your life’s journey, altered by a medical mistake. It is impacting you; your loved ones and its financial impact is costing you millions. 

Contact Vinkler Law today for a free consultation