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STEPHEN T. FIEWEGERLAW
Quiet hospital corridor in soft light, representing Iowa and Illinois medical malpractice claims

Practice Area

Davenport Medical Malpractice Attorney

We find out what actually happened in your care and whether a medical professional's mistake caused your harm.

Free Consultation Call (563) 424-1982

Medicine is not perfect, and the law does not require it to be. A treatment can fail, a surgery can have complications and a patient can get worse even when every provider did their job well. That is why a mistake, or a bad result, is not automatically medical malpractice.

To bring a malpractice claim, you generally have to show two things. First, a doctor or other medical professional, such as a nurse or technician, made a mistake. Second, you were harmed because of that mistake. Both parts matter. A clear error that caused no injury is not a viable case, and neither is a serious injury that would have happened anyway.

Mistakes can be acts or omissions

Most people picture malpractice as something a provider did wrong: operating on the wrong site, giving the wrong medication or the wrong dose. But malpractice can also be something a provider failed to do. Missing a diagnosis, failing to order an obvious test, ignoring abnormal results or not following up on a warning sign are all omissions. When an omission falls below the accepted standard of care and causes harm, it is medical negligence just as surely as a wrongful act.

Who can be responsible

  • Physicians and surgeons
  • Nurses and nurse practitioners
  • Medical technicians and other licensed providers
  • Hospitals, clinics and other facilities, in some circumstances [ATTORNEY: confirm]

Why these cases need careful work early

Malpractice cases turn on medical records, timelines and the opinions of other medical professionals about what should have been done. They also carry short, strict filing deadlines that differ between Iowa and Illinois, along with special procedural requirements. Missing one can end a case before it starts. If you suspect something went wrong in your care or a family member's, call promptly so the records can be gathered and reviewed while there is still time to act.

We will be candid with you. Malpractice cases are demanding and expensive to prepare, and not every case that feels wrong turns out to be one the law will remedy. Our goal is to give you a clear, honest answer about yours.

Our Process

How we evaluate a malpractice claim

  1. Listen and gather records

    We hear your account, then obtain the complete medical records, not just the summaries, so we can build an accurate timeline of your care.

  2. Independent medical review

    We have the care reviewed against the accepted standard by qualified medical professionals, which these cases almost always require.

  3. Decide and act

    If the review supports a claim, we explain the path forward, meet the procedural requirements and pursue it. If it does not, we tell you plainly.

Medical Malpractice: Frequently Asked Questions

Is every bad outcome malpractice?
No. Malpractice requires a mistake by a medical professional, whether an act or an omission, that fell below the accepted standard of care, and harm caused by that mistake. Complications and poor results can happen even with good care.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Medical malpractice deadlines are short and strict, and they differ between Iowa and Illinois. There are also outer time limits that can apply even if you did not discover the problem right away. [ATTORNEY: verify] Call promptly; delay can permanently bar a claim.
Will my case need a medical expert's review?
Almost always, yes. Courts generally require testimony from qualified medical professionals to explain what the standard of care was and how it was breached. Part of our early work is arranging that independent review.
What is an "omission" in a malpractice case?
It is a failure to do something a reasonably careful provider would have done, such as failing to diagnose a condition, order a test, act on abnormal results or make a needed referral. Omissions can be medical negligence just like affirmative errors.
Can I bring a claim for a family member who died?
In some cases, yes. Wrongful death claims arising from medical negligence are possible in both Iowa and Illinois, but who may bring them and how they are handled differ by state. [ATTORNEY: verify] We can explain the rules that apply to your family.
What should I bring to a consultation?
Bring whatever you have: provider names, dates of treatment, discharge papers, bills, and your own notes about what happened and when. You do not need complete records; we can request those.

Have a question that isn’t answered here? Contact us or call (563) 424-1982.

Talk to an experienced Quad Cities attorney.

The first conversation is free. We'll listen, explain where you stand and tell you plainly whether we can help.

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