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Streamwood Surgical Error Lawyer
A surgical error can change your life in an instant. You go into an operating room trusting a surgeon with your health, and you come out with a new injury that was entirely preventable. If that happened to you or someone you love near Streamwood, Illinois, you have legal rights. The team at Chicago personal injury lawyer Briskman Briskman & Greenberg is ready to help you understand those rights and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Surgical Error Under Illinois Law?
- Illinois Law Requirements for Filing a Surgical Malpractice Claim
- Deadlines You Cannot Afford to Miss
- Who Can Be Held Liable for a Surgical Error?
- What Damages Can You Recover After a Surgical Error in Streamwood?
- FAQs About Streamwood Surgical Error Lawyers
What Is a Surgical Error Under Illinois Law?
Not every bad surgical outcome is a surgical error. Medicine carries real risks, and a poor result alone does not mean a doctor was negligent. A surgical error, legally speaking, happens when a surgeon or another member of the operating team deviates from the accepted standard of care and that deviation causes you harm. The standard of care is the level of skill and care that a reasonably competent surgeon in the same field would have provided under the same circumstances.
Common surgical errors include operating on the wrong body part, performing the wrong procedure entirely, leaving a surgical instrument or sponge inside a patient, damaging surrounding nerves or organs, and making preventable errors in anesthesia. Anesthesia mistakes, for example, can occur before, during, or after a procedure and may involve giving the wrong dosage, failing to monitor vital signs, or neglecting to review a patient’s known allergies.
Streamwood residents who receive care at nearby facilities along the I-90 corridor or at hospitals in the greater Cook County area are protected by the same Illinois medical malpractice laws that apply statewide. To succeed in a surgical error claim in Illinois, you must show four things: a provider-patient relationship existed, the provider deviated from the accepted standard of care, that deviation caused your injury, and you suffered measurable damages as a result. If all four elements are present, you may have a strong claim worth pursuing.
Illinois Law Requirements for Filing a Surgical Malpractice Claim
Illinois has specific procedural rules that apply to every surgical malpractice case. Before your lawsuit can move forward, you must satisfy what is called the “certificate of merit” requirement under the Healing Art Malpractice statute, 735 ILCS 5/2-622. This law requires your attorney to file a sworn affidavit alongside your complaint. That affidavit must confirm that a qualified health professional reviewed your medical records and concluded in a written report that your case has a reasonable and meritorious basis for filing.
The reviewing health professional must meet strict qualifications. They must be knowledgeable in the relevant medical issues, must have practiced or taught in the same area of medicine within the last six years, and must be qualified by experience or demonstrated competence in the subject of the case. A separate affidavit and report are required for each defendant you name in the lawsuit. If you fail to file the certificate, a court may dismiss your case under Section 2-622(g).
There is a narrow exception built into the law. If the statute of limitations is about to expire and you have not yet secured a medical review, you may file an affidavit explaining that situation. You then have 90 days to submit the required certificate and written report. This is not a strategy to rely on. Courts scrutinize late filings, and missing the 90-day window can permanently end your claim. This is exactly why working with an experienced legal team from the very beginning matters so much.
Deadlines You Cannot Afford to Miss
Time is one of the most critical factors in any surgical error case. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-212, you generally have two years from the date you knew, or reasonably should have known, about your injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, there is also an absolute outer limit: no claim may be filed more than four years after the date the alleged negligent act occurred, regardless of when you discovered the injury. This four-year limit is called the statute of repose, and it applies even if you had no way of knowing about the error sooner.
There are limited exceptions. If the injured person was under 18 years old when the malpractice occurred, the claim may be filed up to eight years after the act, but not past the person’s 22nd birthday. If a surgeon or hospital concealed the error through fraud, the discovery rule may extend your window. And in cases where a foreign object, like a surgical sponge or clamp, was left inside a patient’s body, different rules may apply.
If a surgical error results in a patient’s death, the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180, allows surviving family members to pursue a claim. Under that law, every such action must generally be brought within two years after the death of the person. The claim is brought by the personal representative of the deceased, and any recovery is for the benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin. Damages may include compensation for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering, as well as economic losses. Note that under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, punitive damages are not available in healing art malpractice actions.
Missing these deadlines almost always bars your claim permanently, no matter how strong the facts are. Do not wait. Call Briskman Briskman & Greenberg at (312) 222-0010 as soon as possible after a suspected surgical error.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Surgical Error?
Surgical procedures involve a team of people: the attending surgeon, the anesthesiologist, surgical nurses, hospital staff, and sometimes residents or fellows who assist during the operation. Any one of them can be held liable if their actions fell below the accepted standard of care and caused your injury. Hospitals themselves can also be held responsible, particularly when errors result from systemic failures like inadequate staffing, poor training, or faulty equipment.
Illinois uses a threshold-based system for allocating fault among multiple defendants. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1117, all defendants found liable share joint and several responsibility for a plaintiff’s past and future medical expenses. This means you can collect those costs from any one of them, regardless of their individual share of fault. For other damages, a defendant whose fault is determined to be 25% or greater of the total fault is jointly and severally liable, while a defendant found to be less than 25% at fault is only severally liable for those damages.
This matters in surgical error cases because the fault is often spread across multiple parties. The surgeon may have made the initial mistake, but the hospital may have contributed through poor supervision or inadequate protocols. A scrub nurse may have failed to count surgical instruments correctly before the procedure ended. Identifying every responsible party is a critical step that a skilled legal team must take early in the investigation. Briskman Briskman & Greenberg reviews all aspects of a case, including surgical notes, hospital records, and team communications, to build the strongest possible claim on your behalf.
What Damages Can You Recover After a Surgical Error in Streamwood?
The damages available in a surgical error case depend on the specific facts of your situation. Illinois does not cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, which means there is no legal ceiling on what you can recover for pain, suffering, or loss of quality of life. This makes Illinois one of the more plaintiff-friendly states for serious surgical error claims.
Economic damages cover the financial losses you can document. These include past and future medical bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, and the cost of any ongoing care you need because of the error. If your injuries are catastrophic, such as permanent nerve damage, organ loss, or a traumatic brain injury resulting from surgical complications, your future care costs alone can reach into the millions.
Non-economic damages cover things like physical pain, emotional suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. These are harder to quantify, but they are just as real. Jurors in Cook County and the surrounding collar counties understand what it means to live with a permanent disability caused by someone else’s mistake, and they take these damages seriously.
If you lost a family member due to a surgical error, the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180, allows the personal representative of the deceased to pursue compensation for the family’s pecuniary losses, grief, sorrow, and mental suffering. Families in Streamwood and throughout the northwest suburbs have the right to seek full accountability when a loved one dies because a surgeon or hospital failed them. Briskman Briskman & Greenberg handles both injury and wrongful death claims arising from surgical errors, and we are here to guide your family through every step of the process. Call us at (312) 222-0010 for a free consultation.
FAQs About Streamwood Surgical Error Lawyers
How do I know if what happened to me is a surgical error or just a known complication?
Surgical procedures carry inherent risks, and not every complication means a surgeon was negligent. The key question is whether the care you received fell below the standard that a reasonably competent surgeon in the same field would have provided. If your complication was preventable and resulted from a deviation from accepted surgical practice, it may qualify as a surgical error. The best way to find out is to have your medical records reviewed by a qualified health professional, which is exactly what Briskman Briskman & Greenberg arranges as part of evaluating your case.
What is the deadline to file a surgical error lawsuit in Illinois?
Under 735 ILCS 5/13-212, you generally have two years from the date you knew or reasonably should have known about your injury to file a medical malpractice claim. An absolute four-year statute of repose also applies, running from the date the negligent act occurred. Limited exceptions exist for minors, cases involving fraudulent concealment, and situations where a foreign object was left inside the body. Missing these deadlines almost always bars your claim, so contact Briskman Briskman & Greenberg at (312) 222-0010 right away.
Can I sue the hospital in addition to the surgeon?
Yes. Hospitals can be held liable for surgical errors when the error results from systemic failures, inadequate staffing, poor training, or negligent supervision of staff. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1117, all defendants found liable share joint and several responsibility for your past and future medical expenses. This means you are not limited to pursuing only the individual surgeon. A thorough investigation often reveals that both the surgeon and the hospital contributed to what went wrong.
Do I have to pay anything upfront to hire Briskman Briskman & Greenberg?
Briskman Briskman & Greenberg handles surgical error cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. You should be aware, however, that clients may still be responsible for certain case costs and expenses. We will explain all fee arrangements and any potential obligations clearly during your free initial consultation so there are no surprises. Call us at (312) 222-0010 to get started.
What should I do right now if I think I was harmed by a surgical error?
Start by requesting copies of all medical records related to your surgery, including surgical notes, anesthesia records, and discharge paperwork. Write down everything you remember about what happened before, during, and after the procedure, including any symptoms you noticed afterward. Do not sign any releases or settlement agreements with the hospital or its insurer before speaking with an attorney. Then call Briskman Briskman & Greenberg at (312) 222-0010. We will review your case, connect you with a qualified medical professional for a merit review as required under 735 ILCS 5/2-622, and help you understand your legal options at no upfront cost to you.
This content is provided by Briskman Briskman & Greenberg, 351 W. Hubbard Street, Suite 650, Chicago, IL 60654. This page is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes in future cases.
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