Injuries caused by medical malpractice can be horrific, often leading to disability and even wrongful death. Preventable injuries that typically stem from medical malpractice include birth injuries, cerebral palsy, cancer misdiagnosis, and paralysis. Any of these injuries can have severe emotional and financial consequences for victims and their families.
Every day, the medical malpractice lawyers at The Cochran Firm Cincinnati bear witness to the misery negligent doctors, nurses, hospitals, and clinics inflict on our clients. For more than four decades, the medical malpractice lawyers at The Cochran Firm have stood up for injured victims, consistently striving to provide our clients with a level of service that honors the high standard of excellence established by our founder, Johnnie Cochran.
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury because of medical negligence, you can be assured that our medical malpractice lawyers will be with you every step of the way to make certain you are fairly and fully compensated for your suffering. To learn more about all of the ways The Cochran Firm Cincinnati can help you and your family get your lives back on track, please contact us for a free, no obligation legal evaluation of your case today.
Negligence and malpractice are similar but the most distinctive difference between the two is the intent.
Medical negligence is a mistake that results in causing a patient unintended harm. Meaning they were hurt but not because it was forced. Medical Malpractice is when the medical professional knows and doesn’t follow through with caring for the patient with the right standard of care.
Preventable medical errors are one of the leading causes of death and injury in the U.S. According to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, more than 225,000 people die in this country every year because of medical negligence. However, there are times when a patient may suffer a medical complication through no fault of the physician or hospital. In order for a medical complication to be deemed malpractice, it must be proven that the medical provider violated the standard of care prevailing in his or her practice expertise. It must then be proven that the violation of the standard of care caused the injury.
During this difficult time in your life, it is vital to retain a skilled and aggressive medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible, to investigate the circumstances of your injury so you and your family can finally get the answers you deserve. If you don’t act quickly, important evidence that is vital to proving your case could disappear or be destroyed.
You can trust the medical malpractice lawyers at The Cochran Firm to utilize the most cutting edge technology to investigate every aspect of your injury to determine if medical malpractice occurred. If they conclude you have a case, our medical malpractice legal team will identify all of those responsible and calculate a level of compensation that’s fair. The Cochran Firm has never been afraid to take on even the largest corporations or insurance companies, and our medical malpractice lawyers will use their skill to make sure you have access to the money necessary to pay for medical bills, lost past and future wages, pain, suffering, mental anguish and disability.
There are many different ways that medical malpractice can occur.
There are a few types of major errors that can happen during the process of anesthesia. Anesthesia malpractice could be mistakes and errors and the most common types of mistakes while administering anesthesia could be giving the wrong dosage of anesthesia, either too much or too little. Failing to monitor the patient properly, failing to recognize the complication if the patient is developing, accidentally or intentionally turning off alarms on the pulse oximeter which also measures the patient’s oxygen level in the blood. Medical malpractice can occur in many different ways and levels.
Emergency Rooms are frantic and stressful environments. The most life-saving actions are performed under unimaginable pressure. However, this pressure can also lead to errors and even medical malpractice.
The most common issues that result in emergency room errors include:
Failure to diagnose and or misdiagnosing an illness or an injury are the basis of many medical malpractice lawsuits. Misdiagnosis doesn’t always apply to medical malpractice, but it can lead to serious health issues or even death.
Delayed diagnosis error is when the medical professional eventually finds the correct diagnosis after a long time. While the patient waits for the right diagnosis, they may undergo unnecessary treatment. Improper treatment that causes pain, suffering, and more costs is another risk. Patients that have been misdiagnosed or delayed diagnoses are often unaware that they have a right to file a lawsuit even if their doctor eventually finds the right diagnosis.
Essentially, anything that goes wrong during an operation due to the negligence of a surgeon may apply to medical malpractice law. Consult with your Medical Malpractice lawyer in Cincinnati if you have questions about your case.
At The Cochran Firm Cincinnati, all of our highly-experienced attorneys are dedicated to providing quality legal representation to injured people, their families, and the ordinary citizen, just as Johnnie Cochran envisioned when he founded the firm over 40 years ago. If you or a loved one are seeking personal, dedicated and aggressive legal representation in the wake of a serious personal injury, please contact The Cochran Firm today by filling out our online form, or call (513) 381-HURT.
Think of a valid medical malpractice case as needing to tell a complete story with four key chapters. First, we have to show that a doctor-patient relationship existed, which establishes a professional "duty" of care. Second, we must prove the provider "breached" that duty by making a mistake a reasonably careful professional would not have made. This is the core error. Third, and this is crucial, we have to draw a direct line from that specific error to the injury you suffered. Finally, your injury must have resulted in real "damages": things like medical bills, lost wages, and profound personal suffering. Without all four of these elements, there simply isn't a case.
Ohio's timeline is incredibly strict. The general rule is one year. But one year from what? It could be one year from the date of the botched procedure, the day your doctor-patient relationship ended, or the date you first discovered something was wrong. This "discovery rule" is vital, but don't try to guess. The law also has a hard four-year cutoff, the "statute of repose," that can bar a claim even if you just found out about the injury. The only safe assumption is that the clock is ticking right now. The best thing you can do is talk to a medical malpractice lawyer to know for sure where you stand.
In Ohio, your personal story isn't enough to get started; the law requires expert validation from day one. This comes in the form of an "Affidavit of Merit." Before we can even file your lawsuit, we must have a qualified medical expert review your case and sign a sworn statement that your claim has merit. This affidavit confirms two things: that the medical care you received fell below acceptable standards and that this failure caused you harm. It’s a non-negotiable requirement, and our firm manages this entire critical process for you.
At the Cochran Firm, we handle these complex cases on a contingency fee basis. This arrangement puts all the financial risk on us, not you and your family. We invest our own resources to cover the high costs of investigating your claim, hiring the best medical experts, and pursuing the lawsuit. We only get paid a fee if we successfully recover money for you through a settlement or a trial verdict. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid. It’s that simple. Your initial consultation to explore your options is always free.
Honestly, there is no "typical" case value, and any lawyer who suggests one without knowing your story isn't being straight with you. The value of your case isn't based on an average; it's based on your losses. We calculate the full value by looking at the real-world impact on your life: the cost of every medical bill (past and future), every dollar of lost income, the cost of long-term care or rehabilitation, and the profound, personal cost of your pain and suffering. The goal is to determine what you need to be made whole, not to match some generic number.
The money recovered in a lawsuit, known as "damages," falls into two distinct baskets.
Non-Economic Damages: This is compensation for the human cost of the error. While no amount of money can undo the harm, these damages acknowledge your physical pain, emotional anguish, scarring or disfigurement, and the loss of enjoyment in your life. While Ohio law places limits on this category, we fight to maximize what you are entitled to for your suffering.
You can often hold the hospital responsible, even if the error was made by a single doctor. A hospital can be liable for its own negligence, like failing to properly credential a doctor or chronically understaffing its wings. More commonly, a hospital is responsible for the actions of its employees, such as nurses, anesthesiologists, and medical technicians, if they were negligent while on the clock. Our job is to investigate every party that had a hand in your care to determine who is truly at fault.
Your first priority is always your health. But to protect your legal rights, the next steps are critical. First, do not engage in a back-and-forth with the hospital's risk manager or their insurance company because their job is to protect their client, not you. Second, gather any and all medical paperwork you have. Finally, and most importantly, contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Evidence can disappear and memories can fade, but a free, confidential conversation with our team today can give you the answers and protection you need.
