Did a healthcare professional’s negligent actions cause your injury or illness? Do you want to pursue a medical malpractice case? If so, you should call the Washington personal injury lawyers of Tamaki Law, so we can review the facts of the incident and determine who we can hold liable for the suffering you endured.
Whenever you go to the doctor, you don’t usually worry that they’ll make an error that will cause your injuries or a loved one’s death. You assume they have the experience necessary to diagnose your disease correctly or perform a surgical procedure successfully. Unfortunately, doctors, nurses, and other medical providers make mistakes that can cause significant harm to their patients.
At Tamaki Law, our Washington medical malpractice attorneys understand how traumatic this experience can be. It can lead to physical injuries, emotional pain, and financial struggles. If you can’t afford the cost of medical treatment, you might worry about the impact it will have on your future. You shouldn’t face the consequences of another person’s negligent actions. You can depend on our legal team to fight hard for your rights and seek the justice you deserve.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
Various scenarios can cause a patient’s injury or death. Tamaki Law has over 100 years of combined experience taking on healthcare professionals and seeking the compensation our clients need to recover. We can handle different types of medical malpractice cases, such as:
- Hospital negligence
- Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis
- Surgical errors
- Incorrect medication prescription or dosage
- Anesthesia errors
- Inadequate interpretation of diagnostic testing results
- Birth injuries
- Unnecessary procedures
- Poor pre and post-operative care
- Unsterilized medical tools
If any of these or another scenario resulted in your injuries, do not hesitate to reach out to the Washington medical malpractice attorneys of Tamaki Law. We can start working on your case right away and create a legal strategy that best meets your needs.
Possible Compensation from a Medical Malpractice Case
If your injury resulted from medical malpractice, you could file an insurance claim to pursue compensation for the losses you suffered. Medical facilities and medical practitioners typically carry insurance policies. Such a policy can pay settlements to victims of medical malpractice. The financial award you receive will depend on different factors associated with your case and the amount of coverage on the policy.
The losses you can seek in an insurance claim include:
- Mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Medical bills
- Property damage
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
Determining the amount of money you’re owed from the insurance company can be challenging. Tamaki Law can calculate the value of your case and might consider specific contributing factors, such as:
- Type and severity of the injury
- Time missed from work
- Effect of the incident on quality of life and daily routine
- Emotional or mental trauma experienced
- Duration of medical treatment
- Permanent impairment or disability resulting from the injury
- Availability of evidence proving the healthcare professional caused the injury
- Total expenses incurred from the incident
- The estimated cost of necessary medical treatment in the future
Typically, the more severe the injury, the higher compensation you deserve. If you’re permanently disabled and need to hire someone to assist you with routine tasks, you might be entitled to the full coverage amount available. However, if the injury only resulted in minor damage and you were able to return to your everyday life after a month, you’ll likely receive a low settlement amount.
Deadline to File a Lawsuit in Washington
The timeframe you must follow if you want to sue a medical facility, doctor, or nurse for the injuries you suffered is called a statute of limitations. Generally The statute of limitations in Washington is three years. That means you have three years from the date your injury occurred to file your lawsuit. If you want to seek compensation and don’t file until after the deadline passes, you’ll likely lose your right to hold the at-fault party liable in court. Every claim should be analyzed on a case by case basis regarding the statute of limitations because there are exceptions to the three-year statute of limitations.
However, if you don’t discover that your injury or illness resulted from medical malpractice until after the statute expires, you must file your lawsuit within one year from the date you knew or should have known about it. Additionally, the statute of repose requires that you initiate a medical malpractice case no later than eight years from the date of the incident.
Did a healthcare professional’s negligent actions cause your injury or illness? Do you want to pursue a medical malpractice case? If so, you should call the Washington personal injury lawyers of Tamaki Law Firm.
Steps You Should Take if Your Injuries were Due to Medical Malpractice
If you developed an illness or sustained an injury from medical malpractice, there are immediate steps you should take if you want to hold the at-fault party accountable for their actions.
First, you should seek medical treatment from another doctor. Ask their opinion about your diagnosis, symptoms, or intended outcome of a procedure. If they determine that your injury is unusual based on the circumstances, you might be able to pursue a medical malpractice case.
Your new physician might recommend that you follow up with other medical providers for physical therapy, surgery, and other types of treatment. It’s vital that you follow their orders and continue treating until you recover. Medical records and bills are excellent evidence to prove what happened and to show the expenses you incurred from the incident.
You should also hire an attorney to assist you with your case. Medical malpractice laws and procedures can be confusing and complicated. You shouldn’t face the negligent healthcare professional or facility alone. They often hire experienced insurance companies and defense attorneys to look for any evidence to show they weren’t liable for your injury.
Tamaki Law can investigate the incident and collect the evidence we need to prove fault, so the medical provider is forced to provide the compensation you need to pay for your expenses.
Examples of evidence we might need includes:
- Copies of your medical records, operative reports, and other medical documentation
- Statements from eyewitnesses to the incident
- Affidavits from experts
- Photos of visible injuries
- Results of testing on surgical gloves, tools, and other defective or faulty devices
The outcome of your case will depend on multiple factors. We can’t guarantee a specific monetary award, but we will do our best to achieve your goals.
Handling the Death of a Loved One
If you lost someone due to medical malpractice, you could file a lawsuit for compensation for your losses. According to Washington statute § 4.20.010, wrongful death occurs when someone’s neglect, wrongful act, or default causes a person’s death.
Not just anyone is allowed to file this type of lawsuit. Only specific parties can pursue a wrongful death case, including:
- The personal representative of the victim’s estate
- A surviving spouse or state-registered domestic partner
- A surviving child or stepchild
If the deceased didn’t have a spouse, partner, or children, their parents or siblings could initiate a lawsuit for compensation.
If your son or daughter was under 18 years old and suffered a fatal injury or illness from a medical provider’s negligence, you and their other parent could file a lawsuit. However, you both must have regularly supported the child throughout their life to be eligible for compensation.
There’s a three-year statute of limitations for pursuing a wrongful death case against a healthcare professional or facility. That means the timeframe will begin on the date of your loved one’s death, not necessarily on the date of the medical malpractice incident, if the two dates are different.
The financial award recovered from a wrongful death lawsuit would go to your family member’s estate. The losses you can seek compensation for include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of companionship, care, and additional intangible benefits the deceased provided to relatives before dying
- Medical bills related to the fatal incident
- Lost wages the deceased could have earned if they survived
- Property damage costs
- Pain and suffering experienced by the deceased due to their injury
These losses are available in wrongful death cases, but that doesn’t mean you’re entitled to pursue them. It will depend on the specific relationship you had with the deceased which compensation you’re eligible to claim. For example, the estate’s personal representative might not qualify for compensation for loss of care, but a child could.
Tamaki Law Legal Fees and Costs
Our Washington medical malpractice attorneys take most cases on a contingency fee basis. That means you’re not responsible for upfront fees or costs when you hire us. We won’t collect any legal fees unless we secure an insurance settlement or favorable jury verdict for you. If we lose your case, you’ll never have to pay us for our legal services.
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At Tamaki Law, our legal team has been seeking justice for our clients since 1994. We’ve been able to recover record-setting results for injured victims throughout Washington. When you hire us, you’ll receive the personalized attention you deserve to get through this devastating experience and get back on your feet.
Tamaki Law cares about our clients. We will treat you as a priority and seek to meet your needs. We will work hard to try to efficiently resolve your claim or lawsuit and achieve your desired outcome. You can feel confident knowing you have a dedicated team on your side.
If you want to discuss the circumstances of your medical malpractice case with us, call Tamaki Law today for a free consultation. Our Washington medical malpractice attorneys will remain in your corner throughout the entire legal process and advocate for your rights and the compensation you deserve.