Chicago residents who are injured by dog bites and dog attacks may be traumatized for the rest of their lives. Whether a victim is a child or an adult, dog attacks are scary events that may leave emotional and physical scars. Dog bites can lead to fatal injuries, but when victims are able to get the help they need to get away from a dog during an attack and when victims are able to seek medical treatment, victims may be able to survive their injuries.
In September, an Illinois woman sought medical treatment at a hospital after she was injured by a dog bite. The woman expected to receive the appropriate treatment she needed in order to recover from the injury, but instead, the woman suffered additional injuries. The patient filed a lawsuit against the hospital last month claiming the hospital and its staff had failed to properly treat her wound from the dog bite. Because her wound was not treated properly, the woman is now disabled and disfigured, the lawsuit states.
Reports have not provided any details regarding the type of disfigurement and injuries that were caused by the hospital’s negligence. However, the lawsuit does state that the injuries have caused the woman to experience mental anguish and permanent pain. She is seeking at least $300,000 in damages to cover her medical expenses and lost wages resulting from the hospital’s failure to treat her dog bite wound correctly.
The lawsuit states that the woman sought treatment for a dog bite in September 2012. When a doctor and nurse treated the woman, the two medical professionals had failed to irrigate the woman’s wound correctly. The patient claims that after this mistake was made, the doctor and nurse then failed to properly close the wound from the dog bite. In addition to these errors, the patient claims that the doctor did not prescribe antibiotics to help with the patient’s recovery process. Due to this series of mistakes, the woman was not treated correctly for her wound, which led to further injuries and harm.
Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, “Alton Memorial sued over dog bite treatment,” Andrea Dearden, Feb. 27, 2013
- Our Chicago medical malpractice firm provides counsel to hospital patients and their families who have been harmed by medical negligence and doctors’ errors. To learn more about our firm and practice, please visit our Chicago hospital negligence lawyer page.