Denver Pediatrician Malpractice Lawyers
Get Help After a Pediatrician's Error Causes Your Child’s Injury
Parents who have a child with an illness or injury are fiercely protective, as they should be. Children are the most vulnerable patients, which makes it even more egregious when medical professionals fail to properly treat them. Pediatricians have the most contact with sick or injured children – it is their job to treat them. When they fail in this duty and a child is injured, it is considered pediatric malpractice, and the pediatrician should be held accountable.
As a parent, you’ll want to ensure that those at fault for your child’s illness or injury are held responsible for medical malpractice. At Leventhal Puga Braley P.C., our Denver trial attorneys provide top legal representation for parents of injured children. We have more than four decades of experience to hold the guilty accountable and get you the compensation you deserve. There is no charge for an initial consultation, and we can get started immediately on your case. Call us at (303) 759-9945 or toll-free at (877) 433-3906 to work with one of our Denver pediatrician malpractice lawyers.
How Pediatric Malpractice Occurs
Unfortunately, pediatric malpractice is a fairly common form of medical malpractice. One in five pediatricians is sued over the course of their career, with surgery (including neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, and general surgery) bringing the most malpractice claims, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
In addition, 36% of pediatric malpractice cases involve failure to diagnose, and 16% are based on a claim of inadequate communication between the physician and the patient/family. Errors also commonly occur during “hand-off” situations, where a patient is either being transferred to a different medical team or a different hospital altogether. When the documentation or communication is inadequate, medical teams don’t have enough information to make accurate decisions for the child.
Common Forms of Pediatric Malpractice
Pediatric malpractice can occur at any stage of treatment: diagnosis, prep, surgery, administering medication, monitoring. Typically, child patients are injured due to a misdiagnosis, which occurs when a doctor fails to properly diagnose their condition and provides the wrong treatment or delayed treatment.
The most common illness associated with pediatric malpractice is meningitis, according to the AAP. Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is the cause of many malpractice lawsuits because it can be difficult to diagnose in children. Thus, the type of negligence in a meningitis case is typically failure to diagnose.
Appendicitis is the next most common illness associated with pediatric malpractice. Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix, a finger-shaped pouch that projects from the colon on the lower right side of the abdomen. Like meningitis cases, appendicitis malpractice cases often arise after a failure to diagnose.
Other common illnesses and injuries associated with pediatric malpractice claims include:
- Brain-damaged infants;
- Respiratory problems in newborns;
- Pneumonia; and
- Other health issues associated with premature infants.
Errors also commonly occur during routine pediatric health checks, where a doctor may fail to check for or recognize significant signs and symptoms of a dangerous condition.
If a doctor prescribes the wrong medication for a child’s illness, it may delay treatment for his or her actual illness and lead to further injury, if the medication causes a negative reaction.
The Dangers of Pediatric Malpractice
Any case of malpractice can result in serious injuries, expensive medical bills, and lifelong disabilities, and the risk is heightened for children. Pediatricians need to carefully review a child’s symptoms, rule out false leads, and identify the correct course of treatment. Meningitis, for example, can lead to hearing loss, muscle weakness, paralysis, seizures, and organ damage. If not caught early, the disease can cause irreversible damage. If your child suffered an injury or illness due to the negligence of a medical professional, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to discuss your options.
Proving Pediatric Malpractice
You want to seek justice for your child after a doctor’s error harmed him or her. Medical malpractice cases require a lot of research to prove that a doctor or nurse was negligent, and that your child’s negative outcome wasn’t just the result of a standard risk.
In order to prove that pediatric malpractice occurred, you must be able to demonstrate three main factors:
- The doctor-patient relationship existed (easily proven through medical records).
- The healthcare provider was negligent, meaning he or she did not meet the medicals standard of care for the given situation.
- The pediatrician or other provider’s negligence was the direct cause of additional illness or injury to the child.
Our attorneys typically use expert testimony to demonstrate how a doctor failed to meet the standard of care. An expert witness will typically be a qualified pediatrician who can offer an opinion as to what a competent pediatrician should have done under the circumstances similar that led to the malpractice claim.
In Colorado, the medical malpractice statute of limitations requires that plaintiffs file their claim within two years after the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered. The sooner you contact our Denver law office, the better.
Work with an Experienced Colorado Pediatric Malpractice Attorney
Our children deserve the best medical care available, and you cannot justify negligence in pediatrics. Our trial attorneys at Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. can research your case, determine if negligence caused your child’s injuries, and hold the negligent party accountable. We have more than four decades of experience representing parents and their children in medical malpractice cases. Let us take on your legal burdens while your family heals.
If you believe that pediatric malpractice may have caused additional illness or injury to your child and would like to discuss your case, give the Denver malpractice attorneys at Leventhal Puga Braley P.C. a call at (303) 759-9945 or toll-free at (877) 433-3906 for a no-cost initial consultation.
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303-759-9945 
877-433-3906