7 Things About Medical Malpractice Law You ll Kick Yourself For Not Knowing

Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A medical malpractice (why not find out more) lawyer can help patients who have suffered injuries get compensation for their losses. The common law system governs medical malpractice lawsuits.

In the common law, doctors must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating their patients. If a doctor does not adhere to accepted medical practices and results in death or injury, they may be held responsible for negligence.

Duty of Care

Medical professionals must follow a set of standards accepted by the medical industry as reasonable and prudent when they provide treatment. If the standards aren't followed and if they cause harm or health issues patients may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The initial step of a malpractice claim involves establishing that you had an arrangement with a doctor-patient healthcare provider and that the entity or person owed you a duty to act in a reasonable manner. You must then prove that the breach occurred. This is usually done through the use of expert testimony that can provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the case.

The expert witness can determine whether the defendant's actions were below the accepted standard in your particular case. The expert will review your medical records, and also interview or question you to arrive at this conclusion.

You should also be able to prove that the breach of duty caused you to suffer injury. Causation is the third element in a malpractice claim. In most cases, you will need to have a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the breach of duty and the resulting injury. A misdiagnosis, for example one, could result in the wrong medication being prescribed or treatment being administered. This could cause an adverse reaction, such as heart attacks.

Breach of Duty

Like all doctors medical professionals, doctors are under a legal obligation to exercise the utmost care and caution. However, doctors are held to a higher standard because they are medical experts and are able to make life and death decisions. The responsibility of medical care is described in the regulations and standards that govern specific kinds of treatments and procedures.

One of the primary elements that must be established in a negligence lawsuit is that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. Then, it must be proven that the defendant violated that duty of care. This means that the doctor did not meet the standards of care in the particular situation. The standard of care is typically determined by what a reasonable individual would do under the circumstances. For example, a prudent driver would not run the red light.

In a malpractice case, experts are usually needed to testify about the standard of care and the manner in which it was breached. They can also explain how the injury occurred and what could have been done to prevent it from happening.

Damages

In the United States, physicians are required to have malpractice insurance in order to protect themselves against any loss that may result due to medical negligence. To make an action for damages, the plaintiff must prove both actual financial losses (such as medical expenses and lost wages) as well as non-economic losses (such as suffering and pain).

The amount of compensation you receive from a successful malpractice suit is contingent on how effectively your New York medical malpractice attorney argues for your losses. Your lawyer can establish your medically necessary expenses through a review your medical records, testimony from experts and the use of economic experts. Your medical malpractice lawyer must prove the loss of earnings by proving the number of days that you missed from work due to marietta medical malpractice attorney conditions, and also that these missed days were due to the defendant's negligence.

The non-economic damages may be more difficult to prove. You may need the assistance of a professional witness who can explain your physical, mental, and emotional distress as a direct result of the defendant's negligence. Loss of consortium is a second type of non-economic damage. It is the inability to have a romantic, sexual connection with your spouse or any other significant individual as you once did. The lawyer representing the defendant will contest your non-economic damages through a process of interrogatories, depositions, and requests for documents and statements under oath.

Statute of limitations

In New York, as with every state, there are specific time limits - commonly known as statutes of limitation within which a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed otherwise it could be dismissed by the courts. A seasoned New York medical malpractice lawyer is familiar with these nuances and will ensure that your claim is filed within the deadlines that are set by law.

In most cases, victims of medical malpractice must present a lawsuit within two and a half years of the date when the act or omission of a medical professional caused the injury or death. However as with all laws there are some exceptions to this rule. For instance when the error made by the health care professional was part of a continuous course of treatment, Medical Malpractice the 30-month mandatory "clock" will not begin until the course of treatment is complete or the patient is informed of the diagnosis.

Additionally, in certain instances for instance, when a foreign object is left inside the body after surgery or treatment, it might not be possible for a patient to realize that there was a problem until much later. For this reason, most states have adopted the legal concept known as the discovery rule, which allows injured victims to extend these deadlines in certain situations. Your attorney will be aware specific rules of your state, and will carefully go over the timeline of your case to ensure that there are no administrative mistakes that could impede your claim.