Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Topeka, Kansas

Equipped to Handle Complex Malpractice Cases

Every doctor, surgeon, nurse, and other medical professional is held to a strict code and the highest standards to ensure that patients are protected from undue injury and illness caused by avoidable mistakes. When a patient does suffer a serious injury or passes away due to the errors of a medical practitioner, it is crucial that they are held accountable through a personal injury claim in pursuit of maximized compensation. In many regards, the only way doctors and hospitals learn from tragic mistakes is by having to use their own finances to set things right.

No law firm in Kansas believes in protecting and upholding a patient’s rights more than Ralston, Pope & Diehl, LLC. Our Topeka medical injury lawyers have over 130+ years of combined experience and will stand by your side and fight on your behalf all throughout your medical malpractice claim. We know the damages in your case will likely be extensive, so we are not satisfied until we have maximized the settlement or verdict amount you win.

Damages we may be able to cite in your medical malpractice claim include:

• Full cost of hospitalization
• Additional medical treatments to correct error
• Wages lost while recovering
• Pain and suffering damages (non-economic)

Seek justice after medical malpractice hurt you or a loved one. Call (785) 200-9465 to talk with our Topeka medical malpractice attorney today.

What is Malpractice?

If we define malpractice, it happens when a medical professional causes an injury to a patient through a negligent act or omission. The negligence may happen due to an error in diagnosis, treatment, aftercare, and even in health management.

For a valid medical malpractice case, your claim must show the following:

• There was a violation of standard care. Injury law acknowledges that medical professionals perform based on specific medical standards. If it is determined that your healthcare provider did not meet that standard of care, then there may have been negligence in your case.
• An injury was caused by the negligence of a medical professional. You must be able to show proof that you sustained an injury that would not have happened if there was no negligence. If your plastic surgery did not meet your desired outcome, then that is not malpractice -- there needs to have been negligence that caused damage.
• Significant damages resulted from the injury/negligence. Medical malpractice cases are typically very expensive. If your damages are not significant, then the cost of a lawsuit might be greater than what you recover. If your injury caused you to suffer hardship, lose your job, become permanently disabled, or have serious past, current, and future medical bills, then you most likely have a malpractice case on your hands.

Causes & Consequences of Common Medical Malpractice Errors

Medical malpractice may be committed in a wide variety of ways. Essentially, if a doctor or medical professional is expected to complete a certain procedure, any deviation from the accepted standard of care or process is technically medical malpractice. Even if a patient is not injured by the deviation, it is still entirely unacceptable to act in such a way without permission from a medical board.

Our Topeka medical malpractice lawyers handle all types of cases, such as:

• Misdiagnosis
• Pharmacy errors
• Nursing errors
• Failure to diagnose
• Anesthesia errors
• HMO negligence
• Surgical mistakes
• Cardiology errors
• Birth injury leading to cerebral palsy

You have inalienable rights as a patient that must be respected by doctors, medical staff members, and hospital groups. You can trust in our Topeka medical injury lawyers to handle your case with the utmost care and personalized attention to provide you with necessary legal guidance as well as earnest emotional support.

How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Injury Claim?

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in Kansas is the same for all personal injury claims: two years. This means you have two years from the date of your injury to file a claim or you may lose your right to compensation. Kansas does allow specific exceptions to this law for medical malpractice cases. If a claimant suffers an injury but does realize they were a victim of medical malpractice right away they have two years from the date of discovery or the date the injury should have reasonably been discovered to file a claim. A claim must, however, be filed within four years from the date of injury regardless of when the injury was discovered, this is called a “statute of repose.”

What Damages Can You Recover for Medical Malpractice in Kansas?

Victims of medical malpractice are able to pursue all three types of damages available in other personal injury claims, economic, non-economic and punitive. Unlike other personal injury claims however, Kansas places a cap, or limit, on the amount of non-economic damages an individual can recover.

According to the Kansas Statutes section 60-19a02:

• For cases that took place after July 1, 1988 and before July 1, 2014, the damage cap is $250,000
• For cases that took place July 1, 2014 and before July 1, 2018, the damage cap is $300,000
• For cases that took place July 1, 2018 and before July 1, 2022, the damage cap is $325,000
• For cases that will take place on or after July 1, 2022, the cap is $350,000

How to Prove Medical Malpractice

What makes a medical malpractice claim valid in the court’s standards and legal statutes? Many people who are unhappy with their medical treatment may be tempted to try to file a medical malpractice claim. However, there are strict prerequisites that must be met in order for a medical mistake or discrepancy to be considered medical malpractice.

The four medical malpractice prerequisites are:

• You must have an established doctor-patient relationship with the practitioner that harmed you.
• The doctor must have deviated from acceptable standards of medical care, or otherwise acted negligently.
• The deviation or negligent act from that doctor caused an injury or worsened an illness.
• The injury or illness caused and can be linked to damages, such as physical pain and medical costs.

Reliable Representation When You Need It Most

Holding a hospital liable for a serious medical mistake or injury is not easy. Hospitals, medical centers, and even individual doctors usually have corporate legal teams on call to protect them against lawsuits and liability. You can balance the legal field by retaining our legal team for your side. Our Kansas medical malpractice attorneys have the knowledge, experience, and passion to stand up against them to seek fair compensation for your loss or injuries.

Call our Topeka medical malpractice attorneys at (785) 200-9465 to begin your claim with confidence. Your first consultation is free of charge and confidential.