A Carrollton medical malpractice lawyer from Underwood Law Office can help you understand your rights and hold those responsible for your injuries accountable. If medical negligence caused you to suffer injuries, preventable pain or disability, or advancing illness, you may have a viable medical malpractice claim.
If you want to learn more about your legal options for holding the doctor or medical care facility accountable in Carrollton, Texas, our team can answer your questions. We provide complimentary case evaluations.
Recovering a Just Settlement in a Carrollton Medical Malpractice Case
The damages you may be able to recover depend on the losses caused by your medical injuries. These are often called compensatory damages. These losses include things like:
- Medical costs for your current and future treatment and care
- Lost income, including wages, tips, benefits, and more
- Reduced earning capacity due to disability
- Your related expenses you already paid, such as doctor’s appointments, ER visits, surgeries, physical therapy, lab tests, and mileage to and from medical visits
You can also seek compensation for non-economic damages, such as:
- Pain and suffering you endured
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of familial support, especially if you lost your loved one
- Disability, scarring, or disfigurement
Texas, like some other states, limits how much you can recover in non-economic damages under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §74.301. You are only able to recover up to $250,000 when pursuing a case against a single provider or facility. But if you are suing multiple facilities, you are limited to recovering up to $500,000 total.
There are some exceptions to this rule, though. We can help you understand if your case may meet an exception to the statute or how this statute could affect your financial recovery.
Our team will also calculate the value of all your losses before we begin the negotiations with the malpractice insurance provider or the hospital’s legal team. To accurately evaluate your losses, we may:
- Gather medical bills and other medical paperwork
- Document your physical limitations
- Document the emotional impact of your injuries
- Work with experts to determine your future medical needs related to the malpractice injuries
How do You Know If You Have a Medical Malpractice Case for Compensation?
If you were harmed by a doctor’s negligence–which could include a failure to act or an improper action–you may be able to pursue compensation.
Doctors and other medical professionals must provide an acceptable standard of care to every patient they see. If their carelessness or recklessness led to your injury, illness, health complications, or even the death of your loved one, you may have a case. Some common ways medical malpractice occurs are through:
- Missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, often from a failure to follow proper protocols to evaluate the patient
- Medication errors, such as prescribing the wrong dosage, mixing up similarly named medications, or failing to recognize an allergy or interaction
- Surgical errors, including wrong-site surgeries, performing surgery on the wrong patient, or leaving items inside the patient following surgery
- Testing errors, such as a provider misreading test results or a technician conducting a test incorrectly
- Birth injuries, when the doctor fails to monitor the mother and baby closely enough to prevent complications
- Patient medical record issues, including failing to review a patient’s medical history before administering treatment
In some cases, medical malpractice occurs in shockingly apparent ways, such as when a surgeon operates on the wrong body part. In other cases, though, it is much more subtle. Failing to recognize classic symptoms of a serious illness, not ordering lab tests to confirm a hunch, or treating for the wrong condition could be examples of medical negligence and grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
Building Evidence to Show that Medical Malpractice Occurred
When a doctor or care provider deviates from the usual protocols and a patient suffers harm as a result, this could likely support a medical malpractice case.
To confirm malpractice occurred and build a convincing case, we work with a network of medical experts who can confirm:
- The acceptable standard of care expected
- What happened to you
- Whether this meets the definition of medical malpractice
In fact, the state of Texas requires victims of medical malpractice to seek an expert report for each provider they’re filing a lawsuit against. This report must demonstrate the accepted standard of care, how the provider failed to meet this standard, and how this negligence caused your injuries, worsened illness, or other damage.
You can learn more about moving forward with your case and seeking monetary damages for your losses today. Underwood Law Office can help victims of medical negligence and their families in Carrollton and other parts of Texas.
We Can Hold Multiple Parties Accountable for Your Carrollton Medical Malpractice Injuries
In some cases, multiple healthcare providers or staff members may be held accountable for medical malpractice. Some parties we may investigate for medical malpractice and pursue a case against include:
- Physicians
- Surgeons
- Nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants
- Nurses
- Anesthesiologists
- Medical assistants
- Pharmacists
- X-ray and other medical technicians
- Private practice
- Emergency rooms
- Urgent care centers
- Hospitals
- Specialty care facilities
As you can see, we can hold individual staff members and facilities responsible. In some cases, we may file a lawsuit against a specific provider and their employer, whether that be a hospital or private practice. Through vicarious liability, we may hold a whole surgical team—the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the assistants, and others—responsible for an error that falls under medical malpractice
The Underwood Law Office Team Knows Texas Medical Malpractice Law
A Carrollton medical malpractice lawyer from Underwood Law Office can navigate the Texas medical malpractice lawsuit process on your behalf. We understand the laws outlined in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §74 and how they may apply to your case in Dallas, Denton, or Collin County.
If we believe you have enough evidence to prove medical negligence, we will seek to hold the doctor or facility accountable on your behalf. We will work to assign liability and develop the strongest case possible against the medical professional. Our team will:
- Protect your rights
- Build a collection of evidence to support your claim
- Value your case by calculating economic and non-economic damages
- Seek a fair settlement based on this value
- Communicate with insurance companies
- Gather expert testimony
- Submit required reports and notices to relevant parties before the deadline
- Take your case to court, if necessary
- And more
We will take these steps while you focus on getting the care and support you need and recovering from your injuries or illness.
It Costs You Nothing to Start Working with Us
Underwood Law Office is a contingency fee firm. You and your family will not need to pay any fees upfront for our representation.
In other words:
- You owe us no out-of-pocket fees or retainers to get started.
- We will only get paid if and when your case is successful.
We understand that you and your family are likely experiencing mounting medical costs, reduced income, and other financial challenges. That’s why you don’t have to worry about paying for lawyer’s fees up front when you work with Underwood Law Office.
The Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice Cases in Texas
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §74.251 creates a two-year timeline for beginning a malpractice lawsuit. In general, you may have two years from the date of the medical malpractice incident or two years from the date you discover the injury occurred.
This deadline applies to most cases, but there are exceptions. For instance, if your child suffered due to medical negligence and malpractice, you may have more than two years to file a lawsuit against the providers and facilities responsible. The state of Texas also has a statute of repose that extends the amount of time that some victims of medical malpractice have to file a lawsuit, giving them up to ten years to do so.
We can determine the applicable timeline for your case to ensure we preserve your right to take legal action if it is possible to do so. There may be additional deadlines that apply in these cases as well. Reach out to our team as soon as you can after you discover the possibility of malpractice. We can assess your case, confirm if medical negligence occurred, and go to work on your behalf right away.
Make Medical Treatment a Priority After Suffering Injuries from Medical Malpractice
After experiencing injuries due to a medical error, your focus should be on your recovery. While you follow through with a new doctor’s treatment plan, our Carrollton medical malpractice team can tackle the legal legwork. Medical documentation can help us connect your injuries to another party’s medical error.
Your medical records can also give us an idea of how much you will spend on longterm care down the road. The last thing we want is to leave money on the negotiating table. Follow through with your prescribed treatment plan so you can reach your maximum medical recovery. This also protects you from insurers who may try to claim you worsened your injuries by forgoing medical care.
Contact Our Attorneys Today About Your Carrollton Medical Malpractice Case
The team at Underwood Law Office has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients all over Texas and West Virginia. We’re prepared to fight insurance adjusters that may undermine your claim or try to offer you a settlement that’s far lower than what you and your family deserve.
A Carrollton medical malpractice attorney from Underwood Law Office may be able to pursue damages for you and help you hold the doctor or another medical professional accountable. We can answer your questions and outline what we recommend doing based on the facts of your case. Contact our firm today to get a free case review.