When you go to a doctor, hospital, emergency room, nursing home, or other medical provider, you trust that you or your loved one will receive safe and reasonable medical care. Unfortunately, serious medical mistakes can happen. When a health care provider ignores warning signs, delays necessary treatment, fails to diagnose a condition, makes a surgical error, or does not properly monitor a patient, the results can be devastating.
At Segal & Amos, PLLC, we help individuals and families in West Virginia investigate potential medical malpractice claims. Medical malpractice cases can involve hospitals, physicians, nurses, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, emergency departments, specialists, and other health care providers. These cases often require a careful review of medical records, expert opinions, and the full timeline of what happened.
Medical malpractice is not the same as a bad medical outcome. Not every poor result means a doctor or hospital did something wrong. A medical malpractice claim usually requires proof that a health care provider failed to follow the accepted standard of care and that the failure caused injury, worsened a patient’s condition, reduced the patient’s chance of recovery, or caused death.
What Is Medical Malpractice in West Virginia?
Medical malpractice generally occurs when a health care provider fails to act as a reasonably careful provider would have acted under similar circumstances. In West Virginia, these claims are often governed by the Medical Professional Liability Act, which includes specific requirements for bringing a malpractice case.
A medical negligence claim may involve a single provider, such as a doctor, surgeon, or nurse, or it may involve a hospital, nursing home, clinic, or health care facility. In some cases, the issue is not one obvious mistake but a series of failures that allowed a patient’s condition to deteriorate.
Common examples of medical malpractice may include delayed diagnosis, failure to diagnose cancer, stroke, infection, heart attack, sepsis, or other serious conditions; surgical errors; medication mistakes; anesthesia errors; birth injuries; emergency room malpractice; failure to monitor a patient; failure to respond to abnormal lab results; failure to escalate care; premature discharge; falls in hospitals or nursing homes; pressure injuries; and nursing home neglect.
The key question is whether the provider followed the rules of safe medical care. If the provider failed to follow accepted medical standards and the patient was harmed as a result, the patient or family may have a claim.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
Medical malpractice can occur in many different settings. Some cases involve hospital negligence, where nurses or staff fail to monitor a patient, fail to notify a physician of a serious change in condition, fail to act on abnormal test results, or fail to follow physician orders. Other cases involve physician negligence, such as delayed diagnosis, failure to order appropriate testing, or failure to properly treat a known medical condition.
Emergency room malpractice cases may involve long delays, missed diagnoses, failure to recognize stroke or heart attack symptoms, failure to treat infection or sepsis, or discharge before a patient is medically stable. Nursing home neglect cases may involve falls, pressure ulcers, dehydration, malnutrition, medication errors, infection, or failure to transfer a resident to the hospital when needed.
Medical malpractice claims may also arise from surgical errors, anesthesia complications, birth injuries, radiology mistakes, pharmacy errors, and failures in communication between providers. Every case is different, and the medical records often tell the story.
Why Medical Malpractice Cases Are Different from Other Injury Cases
Medical malpractice lawsuits are more complex than many other personal injury cases. In West Virginia, many medical malpractice claims require pre-suit notice and a screening certificate of merit from a qualified medical expert before a lawsuit is filed. This means that the case usually must be investigated before it can move forward.
The investigation may include collecting hospital records, physician records, nursing notes, lab results, medication records, imaging reports, discharge summaries, and other documents. The timeline of care must be reviewed carefully. In many cases, an expert must evaluate whether the provider breached the standard of care and whether that breach caused the injury.
This is why it is important to speak with a West Virginia medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Early investigation can help preserve evidence, identify the right defendants, and determine whether the facts support a claim.
How Do You Know If You May Have a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Families often contact a lawyer because something about the medical care does not make sense. A patient may have gotten worse after repeated complaints were ignored. A serious diagnosis may have been missed. A hospital may have failed to act on abnormal lab results. A loved one may have suffered a preventable fall, infection, pressure injury, or medication error. A provider may give conflicting explanations about what happened.
Possible signs that a medical malpractice case should be investigated include a sudden decline in condition, unexplained death, delayed diagnosis, failure to order testing, failure to communicate test results, failure to monitor symptoms, discharge before the patient was stable, repeated falls, untreated infection, worsening wounds, abnormal labs that were not addressed, or a preventable injury in a hospital or nursing home.
These signs do not automatically prove malpractice. But they may justify a closer review of the medical records.
What Compensation May Be Available in a Medical Malpractice Case?
When medical negligence causes harm, an injured patient may be entitled to recover damages. Depending on the facts, damages may include medical expenses, future medical care, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent injury, disability, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses.
In wrongful death medical malpractice cases, surviving family members may have claims for damages recognized under West Virginia law. These cases may involve death caused by delayed diagnosis, untreated infection, surgical complications, medication errors, nursing home neglect, hospital negligence, or failure to timely respond to a patient’s worsening condition.
Every case depends on the medical evidence, expert review, and proof that the provider’s negligence caused the harm.
Time Limits for West Virginia Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice claims are subject to strict deadlines. In West Virginia, many medical malpractice claims are governed by a two-year statute of limitations, although the deadline can vary depending on the facts, the date the injury was discovered, the type of facility involved, and other legal issues. Some claims involving nursing homes, assisted living facilities, related entities or employees, or certain skilled-care settings may be subject to a shorter deadline.
Because these deadlines can be complicated, you should not wait to speak with a lawyer. Time is of the essence. Waiting too long can make it harder to obtain records, locate witnesses, secure expert review, and protect your rights.
Talk to a West Virginia Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you believe that you or a loved one may have been harmed by medical negligence, Segal & Amos, PLLC can help you evaluate what happened. Our firm investigates medical malpractice claims involving hospital negligence, delayed diagnosis, emergency room malpractice, surgical errors, medication mistakes, nursing home neglect, assisted living injuries, failure to monitor, failure to treat infection, and wrongful death.
Call Segal & Amos, PLLC today at (304) 344-9100 or submit a free, confidential consultation request through our website here: Free Consultation.
We can review your situation, discuss your options, and help determine whether you may have a medical malpractice claim.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Contacting Segal & Amos, PLLC does not create an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship exists unless and until a written engagement agreement is signed by both the client and the firm. Because statutes of limitation and other deadlines may affect your rights, you should speak with an attorney as soon as possible if you believe you may have a claim.