Medical malpractice happens when a doctor’s negligence causes death or injury to a patient. Mistakes are prone to happen when the physician fails to look at the “big picture,” resulting in tunnel vision. It is assessed that medical mistakes kill roughly 200,000 patients in the United States each year. Surprisingly, only 15% of the personal injury lawsuits filed annually target medical malpractice claims.
There are a few reasons why patients choose not to pursue a medical malpractice claim:
- Worried other doctors will refuse to treat them once their case is known.
- Misguided fear that the cost of their medical care will increase.
- Perceived personal and financial costs of the legal process.
Lifting Limits
As a response to the unfulfilled need for attorneys taking on medical malpractice cases, Milwaukee Senator Nikiya Harris-Dodd has proposed a new bill designed to scale down limits that were set in 2011.
This new bill will increase the age limit for parents to press charges for malpractice where an adult child has died due to a doctor’s negligence. They are now able to pursue lawsuits for children aged 27 and younger. It is with this new bill Harris-Dodd also hopes to increase the amount of payments from a settlement per resident.
