Ohio Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Every year, thousands of Ohio residents trust doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to treat their injuries and illnesses. While most medical professionals uphold their duties to their patients, negligence during medical treatment can cause disastrous, life-changing effects. If you or a loved one is hurt by a medical professional’s negligence in any way, you must consult an Ohio medical malpractice lawyer at your first opportunity to discuss your legal options.

Experienced Medical Malpractice Representation in Ohio

The attorneys at Kelley Ferraro, LLC have nearly 30 years of experience representing clients in a wide range of complex cases, including medical malpractice claims throughout Ohio. While these fall within the purview of personal injury law, there are specific rules that apply to medical malpractice claims that you must understand if you believe you have grounds to file this type of case. It’s vital to hire a medical malpractice lawyer with proven experience to represent you.

When you choose our firm to handle your case, we will immediately investigate the details of how you were injured, whether the injury was the result of a medical professional’s negligence, and what damages you could be eligible to claim if so. Our goal is to help our clients secure as much compensation as possible for the damages they have suffered.

Understanding Medical Malpractice Cases in Ohio

“Medical malpractice” can be defined as any incident in which a medical professional’s negligence harms a patient. Every medical professional has a responsibility to follow the “standard of care” that applies to their patient’s condition. This is the minimum level of treatment required for their diagnosis. Malpractice occurs when medical professionals are negligent, fail to meet the standards of care owed to patients, or harm patients through intentional misconduct.

Some of the most commonly cited forms of medical malpractice in Ohio include:

• Misdiagnosis. Diagnostic errors can be incredibly damaging, and they are among the most common types of malpractice in the US. Failure to accurately diagnose a patient or provide a timely diagnosis could prevent the patient from receiving care on time, allow their condition to worsen, or subject them to unnecessary or even harmful treatments that do nothing for their actual condition.
  
• Medication errors. Doctors who prescribe medications must ensure the correct medications, correct dosage, and account for potentially harmful allergies or drug interactions. A prescribing doctor could be found liable for malpractice because of an error with the prescription they wrote, or a pharmacist may be liable for failure to fill a prescription correctly.
  
• Surgical errors. Any surgical procedure entails a degree of risk, but when a patient is harmed during surgery because of negligence, this can constitute medical malpractice. A few examples of this would be leaving sponges or other materials inside the patient’s body, performing the procedure incorrectly, or causing traumatic internal injury due to incompetently performed surgery.
  
• Birth injuries. Childbirth is an amazing experience, but an incident of malpractice during a childbirth procedure can be tragic for the family. Improper use of surgical tools, excessive force during delivery, failure to monitor signs of fetal distress, or failure to recognize when a C-section is necessary are all potential examples of how birth injuries can happen, sometimes with lifelong effects.
  
• Emergency room errors. An emergency room can be one of the most chaotic places in any hospital, but emergency room staff are expected to follow strict procedures to ensure patients are accounted for immediately and treated based on the severity of their symptoms. Failure to follow these procedures could result in catastrophic or even fatal harm to a patient who is not seen in time.
  
• Failure to obtain informed consent. Every patient has the right to informed consent, meaning their medical provider must explain all of the potential risks and expected benefits of a treatment so the patient can make a fully informed decision. Failure to obtain informed consent could expose the patient to risks they otherwise would not have assumed.

These are just a few possible examples of how medical malpractice may occur. If you believe you or a family member was injured by a medical professional’s negligence, you have a limited time to build and file your case. The team at Kelley Ferraro, LLC can provide comprehensive legal representation for every step of these difficult proceedings.

Medical malpractice is more common and more damaging than many people realize. A study from Johns Hopkins University made the startling conclusion that medical errors may be the third-leading cause of death in the US, responsible for as many as 250,000 deaths nationwide every year.

Unfortunately, Ohio ranks fairly high in the US in the number of medical malpractice incidents statewide. Between 2020 and 2024, Ohio ranked tenth in the US for the most medical malpractice claims. During these years, Ohio averaged 21.11 medical malpractice incidents per 100,000 residents. This rate was nearly 29% higher than the national average during these years.

Building Your Medical Malpractice Claim in Ohio

After you or a family member is injured by medical malpractice, you have a limited time to build and file your case. Ohio law requires that a plaintiff filing a medical malpractice case obtain an affidavit of merit from a qualified medical professional that explains how the defendant committed malpractice. This affidavit must be sent to the defendant with advance notice before the claim is filed with the court.

Your Ohio medical malpractice attorney at Kelley Ferraro, LLC can gather evidence needed to support your claim, including securing an affidavit of merit. We will handle the procedural requirements of your case and accurately calculate the full scope of the damages you are eligible to claim. Just like in other personal injury cases, you have the right to claim economic and non-economic damages, but Ohio law limits non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case has the right to claim compensation for all direct financial losses resulting from the defendant’s malpractice. In most of these cases, economic damages include medical expenses and lost income. The plaintiff can seek compensation for immediate medical treatment costs as well as the cost of future care they may need if they suffered a catastrophic injury with permanent effects.

Similarly, the plaintiff can seek compensation for lost income if their injury prevents them from working, and they have the right to claim compensation for lost future earning capacity if the defendant caused a permanent disability. If your injury resulted in any long-term or permanent damage that diminishes your capacity to work, this could apply to your case. Your Ohio medical malpractice lawyer can help you calculate these projected losses.

The plaintiff has the right to claim pain and suffering compensation, but this aspect of their case award is limited under state law. A skilled attorney can help their client secure as much as possible, and there is a chance for other damages to come into play. For example, the court may order a defendant to pay punitive damages if they were egregiously negligent, intentionally harmed their patient, or attempted to conceal their malpractice through fraud.

When a doctor, nurse, surgeon, or other medical professional is found to have committed malpractice, they may not only face liability for the victim’s damages but also other penalties. Some may have medical licenses suspended or even revoked in extreme cases. Criminal prosecution is also a possibility if the defendant broke the law in any way. Your attorney can explain how any such variables might influence your case.

What to Expect From Your Ohio Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When you hire a medical malpractice lawyer at Kelley Ferraro, LLC to represent you, we will immediately begin investigating your case. You can trust us to determine whether you have grounds to file a medical malpractice case, gather evidence needed to establish the defendant’s liability, and accurately calculate all of the damages you are eligible to claim. Our team will also handle notifying the defendant and filing your claim on time.

We are a team of trial attorneys, so we prepare every case for litigation, even if we think we can settle for our client. Many medical malpractice cases filed in Ohio are resolved through settlement, but this is not always a viable option. You can trust us to look for every opportunity to strengthen your negotiating position, and we will be fully prepared to represent you in litigation if necessary.

You may be concerned about the potential cost of hiring an attorney, but our firm accepts most of these cases on a contingency fee basis. Under a contingency fee agreement, we charge our client a fee only after we secure compensation for them. There are no upfront or ongoing attorneys’ fees from our firm in most of these cases. The contingency fee is a percentage of the total recovery secured from the successful medical malpractice claim. Ultimately, suffering an injury from medical malpractice can be traumatic in many ways, and it is daunting to face the strict procedural rules that apply to these cases in Ohio. The team at Kelley Ferraro, LLC has the skills, resources, and experience needed to handle the most challenging medical malpractice cases, and we’re ready to apply this to your case. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with an Ohio medical malpractice lawyer you can trust.