Medical Malpractice

Everyday, we entrust ourselves and our loved ones to the care of doctors and other medical professionals. When people's lives and well-being hang in the balance, mistakes have serious, life-threatening consequences. At Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC, our medical malpractice attorneys have helped countless families and individuals recover damages when physician negligence leads to serious injury or death.

Consulting and working with nationally recognized experts, we have the legal and medical tools necessary to expose incompetence on the part of healthcare providers. With over seventy years of combined legal experience, our medical malpractice lawyers are intimately familiar with the tactics and strategies used by doctors and their insurers to avoid admitting fault.

We relentlessly uncover facts and expose information doctors and their insurers prefer we didn't. To learn more about our practice, contact the Denver, Colorado medical malpractice attorneys at Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC. Available for free consultations, we represent clients throughout Colorado, including Denver, Boulder, Aurora, Colorado Springs and Ft. Collins.

At some hospitals, 18-36% of patients may suffer harm from a medical mistake that causes injury or death.

Medical Negligence and Medical Malpractice

The medical malpractice attorneys of Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC represent clients in the following medical malpractice claims:

• Birth Injuries
• Failure to Diagnose Cancer
• Failure to Diagnose Stroke
• Misdiagnoses
• Disfigurement
• Surgical Errors
• Prescription Error
• Physician Negligence
• FTCA Claims - Military
• Hospital Malpractice
• Emergency Room Errors
• Nursing Errors
• Anesthesia Errors

Client Commitment Always Comes First

At Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC, we never compromise our dedication and commitment to our clients. Recognizing how medical malpractice affects a person's ability to work, quality of life and sense of well-being, our attorneys treat clients like family. We create day-in-the-life videos, interview witnesses and place a human face on the injuries caused by doctors. While we cannot change the past, we can help to ensure justice is served and that you and your family are compensated for your suffering.

There When You Need Us the Most

Our attorneys understand how stressful medical malpractice lawsuits can be for injury victims. That is why we have established a reputation for accessibility and hands-on, personalized service. Our medical malpractice lawyers work as a consultative team and are up-to-date and informed on every case our firm tries. When you call or need a question answered, an attorney will answer your question - not a paralegal or office assistant.

For more information regarding our practice and the legal options available to you, contact Colorado medical malpractice attorneys at Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC today.

Medical Malpractice Success Stories

Failure to Treat Results in $10 Million Verdict

A nine-year-old boy presented to his primary care pediatrician in October, 2004 with symptoms of frequent urination and neck "stretching." The doctor attributed the symptoms to anxiety and/or stress, brought about by the family's recent move from Israel to the United States. The child's mother consulted with the pediatrician by phone on at least two occasions following the October, 2004 office exam. It was undisputed that the mother reported occasional headaches and fatigue in one of these calls. The patient was next seen for an office exam on March 15, 2005, reporting headaches, dizziness, visual disturbances, shoulder pain and increased fatigue. Still, the doctor's assessment remained that patient's symptoms were related to stress or anxiety. The youngster was seen again on March 30, 2005, with complaints of acute shoulder pain. Between April 1, 2005 and May 9, 2005, the child's pain symptoms worsened and evolved. After a phone call on April 18, 2005 in which the mother reported "pain all over," the doctor noted in the chart: "doubt underlying organic DZ (disease)."

On May 9, 2005, the child was examined by the pediatricians partner, who was covering for the vacationing doctor. The partner ordered a direct admit to The Children's Hospital in Denver, where a MRI of the C-spine revealed a juvenile pilocystic astrocytoma (JPA) in the suprasellar/hypothalamic region of the youngster's brain. The radiologist noted that the tumor was "obliterating" the third ventricle. When an emergency ventriculostomy to decompress and reduce intracranial pressure was performed, the tumor bled, necessitating a craniotomy to debulk the tumor. The bleed and craniotomy caused profound cognitive deficits, blindness in the right eye, partial blindness in the left eye, diabetes insipidus, significant Tourette-type tics and other significant damage.

The plaintiffs brought suit against the pediatrician only, contenting that she negligently failed to timely refer the child for a diagnostic MRI based upon his history of headaches; visual disturbances; worrisome and inexplicable radiating pain in neck, shoulders, and groin; and in the face of progressive weight loss.

The plaintiffs' experts testified that a diagnosis made 30 days earlier would have allowed sufficient time to institute 3 cycles of chemotherapy, which would have controlled further growth of the tumor, preventing the bleed and the need for the craniotomy. At trial, it was demonstrated that patient would need lifetime care, that he would not be able to earn a living, and that he would need full-time assisted living. A complete life care plan was generated and priced to a net present value.

On behalf of the boy and his mother, Chalat Hatten & Koupal achieved one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Colorado's history: $10,100,000.00, comprised of $9,000,000.00 in economic damages, including life care planning, lost earnings, and future medical expenses for the child, and $1,100,000.00 in economic damages for mother for past medical expenses and future medical expenses until the child turns age 18. No damages were awarded for pain and suffering, impairment or disfigurement. (In any event, Colorado caps such non-economic damages at $300,000.00).

Unnecessary Radical Double Mastectomy Result of Misdiagnosis

A client went to the hospital for a biopsy of her right breast. Her initial pathologist incorrectly diagnosed the benign tissue as cancerous. That misdiagnosis was confirmed by two additional pathologists.

The client, believing she had a cancerous lump in her right breast, went to a surgeon for a right breast mastectomy. Without either consent or a reason to suspect the surgery was necessary, the surgeon performed a double mastectomy.

Following her unnecessary double mastectomy, the client tried to schedule post-surgery cancer treatment, including chemotherapy. By this point, the pathologists had realized their misdiagnosis, but failed to inform the client that she had not, in fact, ever had cancer.

Chalat Hatten & Koupal brought suit on the client's behalf, alleging medical negligence and claiming economic damages for medical expenses, and claiming non-economic damages for pain and suffering and for physical disfigurement. The case resulted in a confidential settlement agreement.

Failure to Monitor Results in Severe Oxygen Deprivation

A client was under the care of her OB/GYN for her pregnancy and the delivery of Baby A. At birth, Baby A had a slow heart beat, was cyanotic and flaccid. The OB/GYN failed to recognize the signs and symptoms of Baby A's fetal distress during the client's labor and did not expedite delivery by performing a C-section. Instead, the doctor attempted to use forceps to deliver the baby. The delays in delivery resulted in multi-organ system damage and brain damage in Baby A. After fewer than three months, Baby A died in her parents' home. The OB/GYN agreed to a confidential settlement.

$1.3 Million Verdict for Family of Patient Who Died After Routine Surgery

A surgeon performed a routine, anterior cervical discectomy on a 54-year-old mother. During the operation, the surgeon injured the patient's left common carotid artery. Although the doctor attempted to repair the damaged artery, after the surgery imaging studies revealed a large cerebral cortical infarct. The patient died two days later as a result of the injury to the carotid artery and cerebral cortical infarct.

After an eight day jury trial, the jury deliberated for about 2.5 hours and returned a verdict for the plaintiffs. The award was $540,094 to the surviving spouse for economic damages and $160,000 to each of the five other plaintiffs, the surviving adult children, for non-economic damages, for a total award of $1,340,094. Costs and prejudgment interest were not included as part of the jury's award. The presiding court then reduced the non-economic damages award to align with applicable statutory caps.

Minor Disabled in Exploratory Surgery

On July 20, 1993, L.C., then 16 years old, underwent an exploratory laparoscopy at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Aurora, Colorado. The OB/GYN resident performing the procedure caused a "through and through" laceration of L.C.'s right common iliac artery. The right common iliac artery is the primary source of arterial blood to the right lower body.

L.C. underwent seven major operations, and several minor operations, to repair the damage done to the severed artery in an attempt to save her right lower leg, which was deprived of blood for nearly 10 hours before arterial blood flow was restored. L.C. suffered severe emotional trauma, and permanent scarring. Her treating physicians recommended that she undergo a right below the knee amputation ("BKA"). Plaintiff's claim alleged negligent insertion of the laparoscopic trocar. The United States denied liability for the parent's derivative claims. The United States also disputed the extent of L.C.'s future lost earnings capacity.

The claim was filed against the United States, pursuant to the Federal Torts Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. 2671, et seq. During negotiations, the United States took the position that the "one million dollar cap" on liability found in Colorado's Health Care Availability Act ("HCAA"), C.R.S. § 13-64-302, was an "absolute" limit on liability in medical malpractice cases, and, stated a willingness to litigate the issue, if necessary. The parties reached a settlement agreement involving a structured settlement cost of $987,786.00. The structure has an estimated total payout of $4,969,556.88 over the course of L.C.'s life expectancy.

Negligent Insertion of IV

A client went into the hospital. The attending nurse attempted to start an IV in the client's arm, but failed to properly insert the needle into the vein. The medication administered through the IV infiltrated around the site of the IV and severely burned the client's arm. Emergency surgery had to be performed to save the client from losing her arm. Even so, the client lost substantially all use of her arm, permanently. The claim was settled for a confidential amount before trial.

"Past results are no guarantee of future results."

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  • James H. Chalat
  • Linda J. Chalat
  • Russell Ray Hatten
  • Christopher Paul Koupal
  • Evan Phillip Banker
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Chalat Hatten & Koupal
1900 Grant Street, Suite 1050
Denver, CO 80203
Map and Directions

Phone: 303-502-5007
Toll Free: 866-701-7292
Fax: 303-861-0506
E-mail the firm

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