Greenwood Medical Malpractice Lawyers

The advances in modern medicine have been extraordinary. Many conditions that would have been fatal just a short time ago can now be managed or overcome. With the level of care available at facilities like Community Hospital South, Greenwood residents have the opportunity to enjoy longer, healthier lives. 

But if that care is poorly executed or improperly applied, it can do more harm than good, leaving an already ill patient in far worse health.  When that happens, an injured patient could recover financial damages from a negligent provider through a medical malpractice claim.   

Obtaining compensation for a medical injury is never easy though, especially in Indiana, where the law imposes strict limitations on civil actions against healthcare professionals.  To improve the odds in your favor, reach out to the Greenwood medical malpractice attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, who have been standing up for the everyday people of Indiana for over a quarter century. 

Call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation with a Greenwood medical malpractice lawyer today. 

Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Case? 

Not every patient whose health declines is a victim of medical malpractice.  The reality is that individuals typically seek medical assistance when they have a significant illness or injury, and the best course of treatment does not necessarily guarantee a positive outcome. 

Generally, medical malpractice can be said to occur when a practitioner’s actions deviate from or “breach” the established protocols of the medical profession, commonly referred to as the “standard of care.”  Providers can breach the standard of care when they fail to treat patients the way that other competent providers working under the same conditions would treat them.  If this breach causes harm, an injured plaintiff could pursue a medical malpractice claim against the provider.   

For the claim to succeed, the plaintiff must show that: 

1. The provider owed a duty of care – The provider accepted the plaintiff as a patient and owed him or her a duty of care. 

1. The provider breached that duty – The provider’s treatment of the plaintiff breached the accepted medical standard of care. 

1. That breach caused injury – The provider’s breach caused harm to the plaintiff. 

1. Damages were sustained – The plaintiff incurred losses because of the injury caused by the breach. 

Proving all four of these elements can be tough.  It will require a deep understanding of the applicable treatments and procedures, professional regulations, and laws to uncover a negligent breach by a provider.  Furthermore, any allegation of negligence will need strong evidentiary support from hospital records, sworn statements from caregivers and witnesses, and expert testimony from accomplished practitioners. 

Fortunately, our Greenwood medical malpractice attorneys are adept at constructing complex cases of provider negligence and presenting them in a clear and compelling way. 

Leading Causes of Medical Malpractice 

Approximately 17,000 medical malpractice cases are filed in the United States1 each year, including about 940 cases in Indiana.  To be viable, each case must show that a medical provider harmed the plaintiff by breaching the standard of care, but there are many different ways in which this breach can take place.  Leading causes of medical malpractice include:  

• Failure to diagnose 
• Misdiagnosis 
• Late diagnosis 
• Diagnostic device errors 
• Errors during surgeries 
• Errors during non-surgical procedures 
• Medication mistakes 
• Malfunctioning medical devices 
• Excessive or inadequate anesthesia 
• Infections caused by poor sanitation 
• Avoidable birth injuries
• Needlessly prolonged births
• Physical, mental, or sexual abuse at medical facilities 

Hensley’s medical malpractice lawyers are intimately familiar with every type of healthcare negligence and can devise the appropriate strategy for litigating each claim. 

Who Can Be Liable for Medical Malpractice? 

When people hear the term medical malpractice, they tend to imagine cases against doctors, though a wide range of caregivers could be held liable when a patient suffers preventable harm, including: 

• Doctors 
• Nurses 
• Paramedics 
• Pharmacists 
• Therapists 
• Technicians 
• Hospitals 
• Long-term care facilities 
• Rehabilitation centers 
• Drug and medical device manufacturers 

Sometimes more than one party could be responsible for a patient’s treatment-related injuries, so it is essential to pursue everyone who may be at fault within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations.  Failure to file suit or otherwise resolve a claim before the Statute expires could forever bar a plaintiff from being fully compensated. 

Our meticulous Greenwood medical malpractice attorneys will make sure to satisfy all deadlines and requirements necessary to establish a valid claim against all liable caregivers. 

How Indiana Law May Impact Your Case 

As if building a case of medical negligence against every possible defendant were not difficult enough, Indiana law imposes added restraints on these types of claims, including hard limits on the extent of the compensation awarded. 

In 1975, Indiana became the first state in the country to impose caps on damages from medical practitioners with the passage of the Medical Malpractice Act.   The Act initially capped the maximum award for medical malpractice at $1.25 million, though it has since been raised to $1.8 million for a single incident. 

Moreover, providers found liable for medical malpractice and their insurance carriers will not have to contribute more than $500,000.00 towards a verdict or settlement.  Anything above that amount will have to come from the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund (PCF), a state-run program from which patients may recover damages in excess of the insurance policy limits (up to the legal limit). 

While $1.8 million may seem like a lot of money, it may actually fail to cover a patient’s bills for certain negligent medical events, much less the total losses incurred, creating yet another hurdle for someone who has encountered so many others. 

What Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Will Do for You 

Perhaps more than any other type of wrongful injury, medical malpractice is fundamentally unfair.  Not only has your health been destroyed by the very providers you counted on to restore it, but you now have to spar with uncooperative insurance companies who will try everything imaginable to downplay the harm those providers inflicted. 

You need attorneys with the compassion to support you through your struggles and the skill to help you prevail.  In short, you need the Greenwood medical malpractice attorneys at Hensley Legal Group.  Since 1998, we have dedicated our practice to ensuring that the average Hoosier enjoys equal access to justice. 

If you choose to retain our firm, we will conduct a thorough investigation to identify everyone who may bear responsibility for your medical injury.  We will also work non-stop to secure the materials needed to support a claim of malpractice, subpoenaing hospital and provider records if necessary and coordinating our efforts with leading medical experts.  We won’t let the intimidation tactics of insurers and defense lawyers prevent us from serving the best interests of our clients. 

Obtain the Maximum Compensation Available 

After putting together a rock-solid case against the liable parties, we will work to reach a settlement that takes into consideration the entirety of your losses, including: 

• Past, present, and future medical expenses 
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity 
• Pain and suffering 
• Psychological and emotional anguish 
• Impaired quality of life 
• Loss of intimate relations 
• Punitive and wrongful death damages (if applicable) 

And if we do not receive an offer that reflects your claim’s true value, we are more than willing to proceed to trial to secure a verdict that does, as well as go after additional funds from the PCF when the circumstances warrant it. 

No two medical malpractice cases are exactly the same, but we will always try to obtain the maximum compensation available for yours. 

You Won’t Pay Anything Until We Win 

We realize your family must be under enormous economic pressure at this moment.  For this reason, you may be relieved to learn that our firm works on a contingency basis, so you won’t pay anything until our Greenwood medical malpractice attorneys win your case. 

You are in this terrible situation because someone you trusted let you down.  We will do whatever it takes to reward your trust in us. 

Contact a Greenwood Medical Malpractice Lawyer 

Hensley Legal Group has been defending the hardworking men and women of Indiana for more than 25 years.  If you have been harmed by a negligent healthcare professional, a Greenwood medical malpractice lawyer will be here to discuss your next steps. 

Call (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or complete our contact form for a complimentary case review with one of our knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys.