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Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Gaddis, Kin & Herd, P.C.
We all want to believe our doctors and hospitals will help us, rather than hurt us. We place our health, and sometimes our lives, in the hands of our healthcare providers. We trust them to be competent, careful and responsible. Most of them are. But unfortunately, a number of reliable studies show that implicit trust in our healthcare providers is not justified in far too many cases.
In 1999 the prestigious National Academy of Sciences reported a disturbing fact: more Americans die each year from medical mistakes than from breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents or AIDS. The Academy reported that as many as 98,000 Americans die unnecessarily each year from medical mistakes made by doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare providers.
On July 27, 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that a follow-up study conducted by Health Grades, Inc., a Colorado healthcare consulting firm, concluded that the number of patient deaths from medical errors was actually more than double the number estimated in the National Academy of Sciences report. The WSJ article also noted that if hospital errors were included as a cause of death by the Centers for Disease Control they would rank as the 6th highest cause of death in America, ahead of Diabetes, Influenza, Pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease.
In February of 2005, Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, reported that each year 2 million Americans contract hospital-acquired infections, and that 90,000 people die from them.
These statistics only address deaths. More often medical malpractice results in injuries that are not fatal, but that can be debilitating, career ending and life changing.
Its no secret that the healthcare industry and its insurance companies are well-financed and extremely aggressive in defending medical malpractice claims. They have been highly successful in creating a public misconception that most malpractice claims are groundless and frivolous. Although the true facts reported in above studies show otherwise, that misconception strongly influences juries and makes successfully handling medical malpractice cases particularly difficult and challenging. In addition, Colorado law has a difficult maze of special rules and statutes that apply to medical malpractice cases. These laws often tip the scales of justice in favor of careless and even incompetent healthcare providers.
To be successful in a medical malpractice claim your selection of attorney is absolutely critical. You must be represented by a highly knowledgeable attorney who is experienced in litigating these kinds of cases.
At Gaddis, Kin & Herd, P.C. our malpractice attorneys have many years of experience in successfully handling these difficult cases.
Contact Thomas J. Herd or Gary S. Craw for a consultation about your potential malpractice claim, whether it involves a doctor, hospital, nurse, nursing home, therapist or other healthcare provider. Our initial consultation is free, and whatever you discuss with our attorneys about your specific situation will remain strictly confidential. Call today for a free consultation at 719.471.3848.
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News
The personal injury lawyers at Gaddis, Kin & Herd, P.C., of Colorado Springs Colorado, recently won a substantial jury verdict in an auto accident case.
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