Milwaukee, Wisconsin attorneys representing medical malpractice claims for serious injuries that come about as a result of misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, infections or surgical errors on the part of doctors, physicians and surgeons. Serious injuries may include birth injuries, organ failure, brain injury, spinal cord injury, mental illness, disfigurement, paralysis and disability. As medical malpractice attorneys, we've had experience and success in taking on hospitals and health insurance companies in the courts. In Wisconsin, contact Laufenberg & Hoefle today.

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Medical Malpractice

Legal Guidance for Medical Malpractice Claims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

On December 20, 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that statutes of limitations on medical malpractice claims can be ignored for developmentally disabled children.

The dispute involved a 14 year old Wisconsin boy who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. His parents claimed that the condition was the result of his brain being denied oxygen during the delivery process, and are holding the doctor responsible.

In a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict of the Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the defendants.

Prior to this decision, the statute of limitations allowed for lawsuits to be filed either up to three years after the diagnosis or by age 10, whichever is later.

Predictably, spokespersons for the insurance industry claimed that this decision, combined with the recent vetoing of economic caps on lawsuit damages, would open the floodgates for new lawsuits. In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, Eric Borgerding, senior vice president for the Wisconsin Hospitals Association, said that “…we've lost the cap, and in this case, we've lost the only protection that remained, which was the statute of limitations."

In the same article, Lynn Laufenberg, former president of the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers and partner at Milwaukee law firm Laufenberg and Hoefle, offered a more realistic take on the Supreme Courts decision.

“By the time the child reaches the age of 10, the vast majority of parents have had the child evaluated and those cases would already have made their way into court," Laufenberg said.

The fact that this case is extraordinarily rare will probably not stop the medical malpractice insurers from pleading poverty and raising their rates again, despite years of record profits.

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin law firm of Laufenberg & Hoefle reviews and accepts cases of medical malpractice of those injured by a doctor or medical professional’s misconduct or negligence. We’ve represented clients who, while seeking treatment for an illness or injury, have only been further injured by a doctor’s failure to act in the best interests of the patient. Our firm has won successful settlements and verdicts for clients who’ve faced the following circumstances:

• Delay of treatment
• Emergency room errors
• Obstetrical mistakes
• Improper fetal monitoring
• Nursing home neglect
• Incorrect drug use
• Surgical mistakes
• Medical equipment failures
• Improper follow up
• Failure to recognize and react to complications
• Incorrect diagnosis
• Performance of an incorrect procedure
• Surgery on the wrong side or body part
• Failure to recognize and treat complications in a timely and effective manner
• Failure to aggressively react to infection

Medical Malpractice Rights an Endangered Species in Law

If you’ve read the news lately, you are probably aware of the many obstacles facing medical malpractice victims today. President Bush has made medical malpractice and tort reform the top domestic initiative of his second term, determined once and for all to plug the drain of “junk” and “frivolous” lawsuits on America’s economy and medical establishment. But while the President is right in asserting that sweeping reforms are needed to allow doctors and medical specialists to continue the good work they do for Americans, he is clearly overlooking some important facts when assigning the blame of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates to trial attorneys.

While statistics show that 98,000 patients die from preventable medical errors every year in American hospitals (equal to three fatal plane crashes every two days), with many times that number suffering severe injuries, the wheels of justice continue to turn in favor of doctors and medical professionals, and against the victims of careless and incompetent healthcare.

When many politicians so often speak of the medical malpractice “crisis” in America today, they never mention the figures above, or what those figures reveal about the state of disarray and lack of safety and procedure in many of America’s medical institutions. They never mention the alarming margin for error patients must risk each time they seek medical treatment. Instead, their arguments seek to assuage the outrage of doctors and medical professionals forced to pay the spiraling costs of malpractice insurance for what they label “frivolous” and “bogus” legal claims.

According to many insurance companies, there has been a pronounced spike in medical malpractice cases in recent years, requiring insurance companies to divert much more time and money toward defending medical professionals in court. Continuing to pass state and federal laws that make filing a medical malpractice case a complex and costly burden for the victim and lawyers is the only way to stop the medical malpractice epidemic. Or so the insurance companies say….

Yet a closer look at the facts paints a very different picture. Consider this:

  • Only 2 to 4 percent of patients injured by a doctor’s negligence initiate lawsuits. On average, Only 40 per cent of those cases go in favor of the plaintiff.
  • On average during the past 20 years, insurance companies have paid out in losses about ½ of what they’ve collected from doctors and medical specialists. That is, for every $2 they’ve received from doctors for medical malpractice insurance, only $1 has gone towards payouts for injured patients.
  • The majority of states now have a cap on pain and suffering and non-economic awards. In 1995, Wisconsin’s cap was set at $350,000, and is adjusted annually for inflation.


No one wants to go through a medical malpractice lawsuit. For patients and lawyers alike, it is a time consuming and difficult process that pries into every aspect of the injured patient’s medical history and background. While many law firms in Wisconsin have conceded to the insurance industry and its powerful political friends, and are turning away injured patients due to the complexities of medical malpractice law, the law firm of Laufenberg & Hoefle will always stand with medical malpractice victims and their efforts to attain justice.

If you’ve been injured by a doctor or medical specialist in Wisconsin, contact Laufenberg & Hoefle today.

 

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