St. Louis Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Cervantes & Associates Your Malpractice Attorneys in St. Louis

Medical malpractice occurs when a physician or other medical professional fails to act with care or skill when treating a patient.  Common types of medical malpractice include:

  • Incorrect or missed diagnoses
  • Failure to disclose treatment options
  • Birth injuries
  • Medication errors
  • Errors during surgery, such as leaving foreign objects inside the patient
  • Dental malpractice

Medical malpractice can have a devastating physical, emotional, and financial impact on patients.  For successful recovery in a medical malpractice case, you must prove that the doctor acted unreasonably under the circumstances, and that this action or inaction was a direct cause of the injury.  Medical malpractice has not occurred simply because a procedure was unsuccessful if the medical professional acted appropriately.  Therefore, it is important to hire an honest and experienced attorney who can evaluate your case, consult with experts, and determine the potential value of your case. 

Shoulder Dystocia

Shoulder dystocia is a birth injury that occurs during delivery.  Normally, once the infant's head is delivered, the rest of the body follows smoothly.  However, shoulder dystocia occurs when the anterior shoulder becomes caught below the mother's pubic bone.  When this occurs, the delivering physician should fist notice the child's face flushing and "turtle sign," which is the protrusion and retraction of the head. 

If the doctor does not notice the dystocia in time, the child can suffer severe damage to the brachial plexus nerves, which run from the spinal cord through the arms.  This could permanently prevent certain uses of the arm, such as extending it and grabbing objects.  Shoulder dystocia can also cause bone fractures, Erb's palsy or the partial or complete paralysis of the arm, or fetal asphyxia, which can cause neurological damage or even death. 

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

Nursing home abuse and neglect is common throughout the United States.  However, because many elders suffer physical or mental problems and have little friends and family to visit them, many of these cases go unreported. 

The three main types of abuse are physical abuse, mental abuse, and neglect.  Physical abuse includes over-medication, beating, and sexual abuse.  Mental abuse, which is often harder to notice, includes yelling, name-calling, insulting, harassing, destroying their valuables, or threatening elders and their loved ones.  Neglect occurs when the caregiver fails to provide basic needs, or care, such as food, clothing, supervision, medical care, or shelter.  All of these types of abuse and neglect can have a severe mental and physical impact on an elder.  Gathering evidence can be difficult, but the medical malpractice attorneys at Cervantes & Associates have extensive experience successfully handling all aspects of nursing home neglect and abuse cases.

CERVANTES & ASSOCIATES
Attorneys at Law

1007 Olive Street, Fourth Floor
St. Louis, Missouri 63101 (Independent City)
314-621-6558 phone
314-621-6705 fax