Naperville Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Last updated on April 22, 2025

Were you or a loved one the victim of medical malpractice in Naperville, Illinois? If so, you might have a compensation claim against the responsible party for your pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, medical bills and more. Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers is here to stand up for you during this difficult time. Call us at 630-848-9294.

We’re some of the most respected and seasoned personal injury attorneys in all of DuPage County. Our Naperville medical malpractice attorneys have more than 74 years of combined experience practicing law. In addition, our personal injury law firm has collected more than $150 million on behalf of our deserving clients since 2005, the year we opened our doors.

Reach out to our law office to set up a no-pressure, free consultation to discuss your case. We’re available 24/7 to take your call.

Table of Contents

• How Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help With A Medical Malpractice Claim in Naperville
• What Is Medical Malpractice?
• What Must Be Proven In A Medical Malpractice Claim? 
• How Common Is Medical Malpractice?
• What Is My Naperville Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
• What Damages Are Available To Medical Malpractice Victims In Naperville, Illinois?
• We’ll Work Hard To Recover Compensation For All Of Your Medical Malpractice Injuries
• What Causes Most Medical Malpractice Cases In Naperville, Illinois?
• How Much Time Do I Have To File A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit In Illinois?
• Schedule A Free Consultation With A Trusted Naperville Medical Malpractice Attorney

How Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help With A Medical Malpractice Claim In Naperville

Nobody should have to endure a medical malpractice error. When you go to a doctor with an ailment or illness, you rightfully expect the doctor to help improve your condition – not make it worse or create a new one. If that has happened to you, you deserve to be compensated by the person or party who caused the malpractice.

Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers can handle everything related to your claim for compensation while you focus on recovering from your injuries. We’re award-winning Naperville personal injury lawyers; attorneys on our team have been named in the list of Illinois Super Lawyers for multiple years running. Mark T. Schneid, one of our founding lawyers, was named one of America’s Top 100 Attorneys as well. Hiring us means you’ll have legal assistance in the form of:

• Hiring experts to fully articulate the nature of your claim and the extent of your damages, with the ability to testify on your behalf at trial if needed
• Internally investigating your case to collect evidence and strengthen your claim for compensation
• Handling all of the negotiations, communications and paperwork that your case entails
• Filing a lawsuit against the responsible party, including the possibility of putting your case in front of a DuPage County jury at trial

These are just a few of the ways we’ll be able to help with your case when you hire us to represent you with your medical malpractice case in Naperville, Illinois. Call today for more information or to begin forming an attorney-client relationship.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice seriously violates the trust between health care providers and their patients. It occurs when doctors, nurses, hospitals or other medical professionals fail to provide care that meets accepted medical standards, resulting in patient harm or injury.

This negligence doesn’t simply mean an unfortunate outcome. Rather, it means the health care provider made decisions or took actions that other qualified medical professionals would not have made or taken under similar circumstances.

To establish medical malpractice, it must be proven that the health care provider deviated from the “standard of care,” which is the level of treatment that any competent medical professional would have provided in a similar situation. This deviation might include surgical errors, misdiagnosis, medication mistakes or failure to monitor a patient’s condition properly.

For example, if a doctor fails to order standard diagnostic tests for a patient showing clear symptoms of a heart attack and that patient suffers severe complications as a result, this could constitute medical malpractice. The key is proving that the health care provider’s negligence directly led to the patient’s injury or worsened condition.

What Must Be Proven In A Medical Malpractice Claim?

Most medical malpractice cases involve proving that the at-fault party was negligent. Negligence is a legal term similar to “carelessness,” and it occurs when a person violates a duty of care, causing harm (damages) to another person as a result. To have a successful medical malpractice claim, these elements must be established:

• The patient and doctor had a relationship that established a duty of care.
• The health care professional breached that duty.
• The breach directly caused injury to the patient.
• The patient suffered actual damages.

Medical malpractice cases are a bit different from standard negligence cases. One key element of a negligence claim is whether a standard of care has been violated. Medical professionals are held to a higher duty of care in the context of performing their jobs. Specifically, the doctor’s actions (or inactions) will be compared to how a reasonable doctor would have acted given the same situation as opposed to just a reasonable person at large.

For example, in a medical malpractice case focused on the prescribing of improper medication, evaluating that element entails asking whether another doctor would have prescribed that medication is given the same circumstances.

As the personal injury victim, you have the burden of proof to assert that medical malpractice by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning you’ll have to show that each element is more likely true than not. Examples of evidence that can help prove your claim include medical records as well as expert analysis and testimony. The exact evidence available will be highly fact-specific.

How Common Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is much more prevalent than you might expect. A study by Johns Hopkins found that medical malpractice was the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Specifically, the study focused on medical death rate data from a recent eight-year period and determined that more than 250,000 deaths per year were due to medical malpractice. This reflects more than 100,000 deaths ahead of the fourth leading cause of death, respiratory disease.

Of course, not all instances of medical malpractice result in death, meaning the actual number of cases involving a medical error is almost certainly much larger than 250,000 per year.

Illinois has released a study of medical malpractice claims in the state and noted that the number of closed claims has decreased in a recent five-year period. However, tens of millions of dollars have also been paid out in medical malpractice claims in the state in that time frame.

What Is My Naperville Medical Malpractice Case Worth?

Medical malpractice cases can be some of the most complex in the personal injury area of the law, and one reason for that is that they can be especially difficult to evaluate. No two medical malpractice cases are the same, as they each involve their own set of facts and circumstances. Many factors go into determining how much a case is worth, such as:

• Whether you’ll make a full recovery from your injuries
• The terms and conditions of your health insurance policy, if applicable
• The type and severity of the injuries you have sustained due to the error
• How old you were at the time of the malpractice

The medical malpractice cases that result in the most serious injuries and the most significant impact on the victim’s day-to-day life will usually be worth the most. These cases also generally require an expert to fully understand the extent of the harm done. However, we can provide some personalized insight into the value of your case during your free case evaluation.

What Damages Are Available To Medical Malpractice Victims In Naperville, Illinois?

Victims of medical malpractice in Naperville, Illinois, can pursue economic and noneconomic damages. However, punitive damages are expressly prohibited by Illinois law in medical malpractice cases.

Economic damages, as the name suggests, focus on your financial losses. Some examples are:

• Lost wages
• Medical bills
• Decreased earning capacity

Noneconomic damages represent your other losses, those that aren’t so easy to assign a monetary value to. A few examples include:

• Pain and suffering
• Disfigurement
• Emotional distress

Our Naperville medical malpractice lawyers will aim to maximize the value of your claim, looking to fully understand all of your damages in the process.

We’ll Work Hard To Recover Compensation For All Of Your Medical Malpractice Injuries

Illinois medical malpractice can result in significant injuries to the victim and can even exasperate existing conditions. Some of the more common types of injuries include the following:

• Misdiagnosis: When a doctor doesn’t diagnose a patient correctly or delays diagnosis
• Medication errors: When a doctor prescribes or administers the wrong medication or dosage
• Surgical errors: When a surgeon performs the wrong procedure, operates on the wrong body part, or leaves foreign objects inside the patient
• Anesthesia errors: When a doctor administers too much or not enough anesthesia
• Birth injuries: When medical professionals fail to monitor the baby’s oxygen intake or doesn’t perform a necessary C-section in time
• Failure to treat: When a doctor diagnoses a patient but doesn’t recommend proper treatment
• Premature discharge: When a patient is discharged from the hospital too early
• Failure to follow up: When a doctor doesn’t follow up with a patient
• Hospital-acquired infections: When a patient acquires a potentially fatal infection while in the hospital

Our lawyers are here to help you recover as best as possible following a medical malpractice error.

What Causes Most Medical Malpractice Cases In Naperville, Illinois?

Medical malpractice cases in Naperville, Illinois, can arise from circumstances like:

• Failure to diagnose
• Misdiagnosis
• Misidentifying the patient
• Hospital negligence
• Failing to obtain informed consent
• Anesthesia errors
• Overtreatment or undertreatment
• Failing to recognize obvious symptoms
• Medical chart errors
• Adverse drug reactions
• Improper surgery or procedure
• Nursing negligence

This list is far from exhaustive, however. Have you been harmed due to a medical error in Naperville, Illinois? Call Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers for legal advice.

How Much Time Do I Have To File A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit In Illinois?

Per the Illinois statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases, you’ll generally have two years from the date of the medical error to file your lawsuit. If you didn’t discover your injury until after the fact, you’ll have two years from that date instead in most instances. However, you will generally have to file your lawsuit within four years, regardless of when you discovered your injury.

We recommend promptly contacting our legal team if you have any questions about the deadline to file a lawsuit in your case. If you file your lawsuit too late, you won’t be able to pursue compensation for the damages you have sustained – a court of law will not hear your case.

Schedule A Free Consultation With A Trusted Naperville Medical Malpractice Attorney

You shouldn’t have to go through the aftermath of medical malpractice on your own. You deserve to focus on healing from the harm that has been done to you instead of worrying about how you’ll be compensated.

Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers can fight for your interests starting the moment you select us to represent you. Our Naperville medical malpractice lawyers are well on their way to a century of collective experience. We’re confident that we can help you achieve a favorable outcome.

Contact us today to set up a free, no-obligation consultation.