Common Forms of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can occur in many forms, some more obvious than others. 

Some of the most common forms include:

• Birth injury: Birth injuries can occur due to medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. Common examples include cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, and other conditions resulting from medical errors during childbirth.
• Failure to diagnose cancer or another serious disease: When a healthcare provider fails to timely and accurately diagnose a serious disease, such as cancer, it can lead to delayed treatment and worsened outcomes. Early detection is crucial for successful treatment.
• Misdiagnosis of a serious disease: Sometimes, healthcare professionals misdiagnose a patient's condition, leading to the wrong course of treatment or delayed care. Misdiagnosis can be life-threatening, particularly in cases of serious diseases like heart attacks or strokes.
• Wrongful amputation: Amputation of a limb is a significant and life-altering procedure. If it's performed due to medical error, such as a misdiagnosis of gangrene, or without proper consent and medical justification, it can be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
• Prescription drug mistakes: Medication errors can include prescribing the wrong medication, incorrect dosage, or not considering a patient's allergies or other medications. These errors can lead to serious health complications or even death.
• Unwarranted testing of experimental drugs on patients: Healthcare providers have an ethical and legal obligation to obtain informed consent before testing experimental drugs or treatments on patients. Administering such treatments without consent or against a patient's wishes can be considered medical malpractice.
• Inadequate or unethical treatment: Inadequate or unethical treatment can encompass a wide range of issues, such as neglecting a patient's needs, using outdated or inappropriate treatment methods, or engaging in harmful practices like unnecessary surgeries or unauthorized sterilizations.
• Surgical errors: Surgical malpractice can include mistakes during surgery, such as performing the wrong procedure, leaving surgical instruments inside the patient, or damaging organs or tissues during the operation.
• Anesthesia errors: Errors related to anesthesia can be life-threatening. They may include administering too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor a patient properly during surgery, or not considering a patient's medical history and allergies.
• Hospital negligence: Hospitals can be held responsible for malpractice, such as inadequate staffing, unsanitary conditions, and failure to maintain proper safety protocols that lead to patient harm.
• Emergency room errors: Mistakes can happen in the fast-paced environment of the emergency room, which may lead to rushed or suboptimal care, potentially putting patients at risk.

If you or a loved one has suffered from birth injury, cerebral palsy, or another serious injury as a result of medical negligence, our attorneys can help you determine whether you may be eligible to bring a claim against the negligent party.

When you meet with a medical injury lawyer Austin families rely on, we will ask detailed questions about where you received care, what symptoms you reported, and how your condition has changed over time. This careful review is especially important when treatment occurred at larger regional facilities in Austin, San Antonio, or other Texas cities, because records may be spread across multiple departments or providers and need to be pieced together to see the full picture.

Contact our Austin medical malpractice attorneys today at (833) 913-1885 to schedule a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Austin Medical Malpractice Cases

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Medical Malpractice Attorney?

Medical malpractice cases are different from other lawsuits. Rather than a typical retainer payment arrangement between lawyer and client, medical malpractice attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means that there is no up-front cost to you. We advance the cost of the lawsuit. If we win the case or negotiate a settlement, our fee is a percentage of the recovery we get for you. We also take out any costs that we advanced in the prosecution of your lawsuit. However, you pay nothing if we don’t recover for you.

What Is the Average Settlement for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits?

Medical malpractice lawsuit settlements vary greatly, depending on the circumstances. The settlement amount is determined through negotiations between the plaintiff and defendant(s) (through their attorneys) and is based on economic losses caused by the plaintiff’s injuries, plus any agreed compensation for non-economic damages, which includes things like emotional pain and suffering, mental anguish, impairment, and disfigurement.

Common types of damages available in a Texas medical malpractice lawsuit include:

• Compensatory damages: These are intended to compensate you for the specific losses and expenses you incurred due to the malpractice. They can be further divided into two categories.
• Special damages: Special damages are quantifiable economic losses that have a specific dollar value. This includes medical expenses, lost wages, and out-of-pocket costs related to the malpractice.
• General damages: General damages are non-economic losses that are more challenging to quantify but are equally important. They include pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other intangible harms.
• Punitive damages: In rare cases, punitive damages may be awarded if the healthcare provider's conduct is deemed to be particularly egregious or intentionally harmful. The primary purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior in the future.
• ​​Future damages: If the malpractice results in long-term or permanent injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for future medical expenses, ongoing treatment, and future lost wages or reduced earning capacity.
• Wrongful death damages: If medical malpractice leads to the death of the patient, certain family members may be entitled to compensation for the loss of their loved one. Wrongful death damages may include funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship and emotional support.

It is important to note that many states have caps on the amount of non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. 

In Texas, non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are capped by law, as follows:

• $250,000 for all doctors or health care providers other than a health care institution (like a hospital)
• $250,000 against a single health care institution
• $250,000 for each additional health care institution

It is very rare for cases to involve more than one health care institution. Most of the time, the non-economic damage cap in a given medical malpractice case is either $250,000 or $500,000 total.

Why Does Texas Cap Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases?

Many people assume that if they are seriously hurt by a medical error, they can recover the full extent of their pain and suffering, the way they could after a car wreck. In medical malpractice cases, Texas law works differently. It caps non-economic damages, the losses like physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and physical impairment, at $250,000 against a physician or provider, regardless of how severe the injury is or how long a person has to live with it.

For someone left with a permanent injury, those capped losses are often the most devastating part of what happened. Because these cases are also expensive to prove, requiring medical records, qualified experts, and extensive preparation, the cap can make some legitimate cases hard to bring at all. We believe these limits are unfair to people injured through no fault of their own, but they are the law in Texas, and anyone considering a claim here should understand how they work before deciding what to do.

What Is the Difference Between Medical Malpractice & Medical Negligence?

Medical malpractice and medical negligence are both legal concepts related to errors or mistakes made by healthcare professionals, but they have distinct differences.

Medical negligence refers to a failure on the part of a healthcare provider to provide the standard of care that a reasonably competent medical professional would have provided under similar circumstances. It involves unintentional acts or omissions that result in harm to the patient. Negligence can occur due to various factors such as misdiagnosis, improper treatment, or lack of communication.

On the other hand, medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence that involves a breach of the duty of care owed by a healthcare provider to a patient, resulting in injury or harm. Unlike negligence, medical malpractice typically involves a violation of professional standards or protocols. This breach of duty can occur through errors in diagnosis, treatment, surgical procedures, or failure to obtain informed consent.

Who Can Commit Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice often results in permanent, disabling injuries — sometimes even death. Those who suffer this injustice have every right to be compensated for their suffering, both short and long-term. Our Austin medical malpractice attorneys know this all too well, having settled cases with all manner of healthcare practitioners who have been negligent when caring for patients. 

Practitioners we’ve dealt with include:

• Medical doctors
• Surgeons
• Emergency room physicians and surgeons
• Nurses
• Medical technicians
• Pharmacists
• Chiropractors
• Physical therapists
• Obstetricians/gynecologists

Our Austin medical malpractice attorneys have represented victims of medical negligence in towns all over the State of Texas and the U.S. We have brought claims against providers in Killeen, Wichita Falls, Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and many other Texas cities.

Whether you’re local to Austin, TX, or are a victim of medical malpractice anywhere in Texas, the attorneys at National Trial Law are ready to help.

How Long Does a Medical Malpractice Case Take?

Every case moves at its own pace, and rushing one is the fastest way to get a bad result. Once a lawsuit is filed, the court usually issues a scheduling order that sets deadlines for each stage of the case and a trial date. That schedule often runs about a year to a year and a half. Some parts of the timeline are outside anyone's control, which is why a firm date is hard to promise in a complex catastrophic injury case. What a good firm can do is keep you informed as each stage moves forward, so you always know where your case stands.

When Can You File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Texas?

In general, there is a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Texas. This means that a medical malpractice suit must be filed no later than two years after the negligent act or omission occurred, or it is barred by the statute of limitations and cannot be brought.

Waiting too long is the biggest mistake families make. The deadlines in these cases are strict, and the rules are not the same everywhere. If the negligence happened at a VA, Army, or Navy hospital, the claim falls under federal rules rather than Texas law, and those federal rules generally provide no exception for a minor and set a strict deadline of their own. Because the state and federal deadlines are different, and some run out sooner than people expect, it is important to talk with a lawyer as soon as you suspect something went wrong. We handle VA medical malpractice and federal tort claims cases and can explain which deadline applies to your situation.

Contact us online or by calling (833) 913-1885 today!