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When you seek medical care in Chicago, you trust that your doctors and nurses will act with professionalism and competence. However, medicine is a complex field, and unfortunately, preventable errors happen every day.
If you or a loved one has suffered a sudden decline in health, you may be wondering if it was an unavoidable complication or the result of a medical mistake. Trusting your gut is the first step. If something feels wrong, it often is.
At Shea Law Group, we want to help you understand your rights. Here are the most critical signs of medical malpractice to watch for when evaluating your or a loved one’s care.
6 Warning Signs of Medical Malpractice
Not every bad medical outcome is malpractice. However, if you experience any of the following red flags, a healthcare provider may have breached their legal duty of care.
1. Your Condition Worsens Despite Treatment
If you are closely following your doctor’s prescribed treatment plan, like taking the medications, attending therapies, and resting, but your condition continues to deteriorate, it is a major warning sign. This often indicates a delayed diagnosis, a misdiagnosis, or an entirely incorrect treatment plan.
2. A Second Opinion Contradicts Your Original Diagnosis
Seeking a second opinion is one of the smartest things a patient can do. If an independent doctor runs tests and immediately gives you a drastically different diagnosis than your original physician, your first doctor may have missed obvious signs or failed to order the appropriate standard tests.
3. Your Doctor Dismisses Your Symptoms
You know your body better than anyone. If you report severe, persistent pain or new symptoms and your doctor brushes them off as “normal” or refuses to run tests to investigate, they are acting negligently. Ignoring patient complaints is a leading cause of missed diagnoses in critical conditions like cancer, strokes, and heart attacks.
4. Unexpected Complications After Surgery
While all surgeries carry inherent risks, some outcomes point directly to negligence. If you wake up from a routine procedure with unexplained nerve damage, an infection, or pain in a completely different part of your body, a surgical error may have occurred. This includes “never events,” which are catastrophic mistakes like operating on the wrong body part or leaving a surgical instrument inside the patient.
5. Lack of Informed Consent
Before any procedure, a doctor is legally required to explain the risks, benefits, and alternative treatment options. If you suffered a severe complication that your doctor never warned you about, or if you were pressured into signing a consent form while heavily medicated, your rights may have been violated.
6. The Hospital Staff is Uncommunicative or Defensive
If doctors and nurses suddenly stop answering your questions, give vague explanations for a sudden decline in health, or become defensive when you ask for details, they may be trying to hide a mistake. A sudden lack of transparency or a refusal to let you speak with the attending physician is often the first indicator that a facility knows an error was made.
Common Signs of Medical Malpractice During Childbirth
Labor and delivery require intense monitoring and quick decision-making. When obstetricians or nurses fail to recognize fetal distress, the results can lead to devastating, lifelong disabilities like cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy.
Because infants cannot communicate their pain, parents must be highly vigilant. Common signs of medical malpractice during childbirth include:
- A Failure to Perform a Timely C-Section: Delaying a necessary cesarean section when the baby is stuck in the birth canal or deprived of oxygen.
- Improper Use of Delivery Tools: Unexplained bruising, facial paralysis, or skull fractures caused by the overly aggressive use of forceps or vacuum extractors.
- Failure to Monitor Vital Signs: Missing the warning signs of maternal hemorrhaging or sudden drops in the baby’s heart rate on the fetal monitor.
- Unexplained Seizures or Resuscitation: If your baby requires a breathing tube immediately after birth, stays in the NICU for an extended period, or begins having seizures, it may be a sign of preventable oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) during delivery.
What to Do If You Suspect Medical Negligence
If you recognize any of these warning signs, you must act quickly to protect your health and your legal rights in Illinois. If you suspect medical negligence, you should:
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- Seek Outside Medical Care: Do not stay at a facility you do not trust. Go to a different hospital or clinic to get your health stabilized and properly evaluated.
- Request Your Medical Records: Ask for a complete copy of your records, including test results and doctors’ notes, immediately. Do this before you threaten a lawsuit, as records can sometimes go “missing” or get altered.
- Do Not Speak to Hospital Risk Management: If the hospital’s legal team or insurance adjuster reaches out to offer a quick settlement or ask for a recorded statement, decline. Their goal is to get you to admit fault or settle for a fraction of what you need.
- Reach Out to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer: Considering how quickly evidence can disappear and memories can fade, it’s important to schedule a consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer as quickly as possible if you believe you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice.
Consult With a Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
Medical malpractice cases are incredibly complex. Hospitals have deep pockets and aggressive defense teams dedicated to denying your claim. This illustrates the importance of working with a law firm that has the resources needed to hire independent medical experts, secure complex records, and prove exactly where the standard of care failed.
If you suspect you or a loved one is the victim of a medical error, do not wait. Contact the experienced Chicago medical malpractice attorneys at Shea Law Group today by calling us or by reaching out online. We offer a completely free, confidential consultation to help you understand your legal options.
