Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A medical malpractice attorney helps injured victims receive compensation for their losses. The common law system regulates medical malpractice lawsuits.

In common law, doctors must adhere to the highest standards of care when treating their patients. If a doctor does not adhere to the accepted medical practices and results in a death or injury or even death, he could 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 providing healthcare. When those standards are not followed and the result is injury or health complications the patient could be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The first element of a malpractice lawsuit is to prove that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the healthcare provider in question, and that the entity or person had a legal obligation to act reasonably. You must then prove that the breach occurred. This is usually done through the recourse to expert witnesses who can provide an objective analysis and assessment of the case.

This expert witness can help determine whether the defendant's actions are not in line with the accepted standards in your particular case. To allow the expert to determine this they must be able to examine your winchester medical malpractice Attorney records and conduct an examination or interview of you.

You also need to establish that the breach of duty directly caused you to experience injuries. This is known as causation and it is the third component of a negligence claim. In most cases you will need a direct cause and effect relationship between the breach of duties and the resulting injury. A mistake in diagnosis, for instance one, could result in prescribing the wrong medication or treatment being administered. This could result in an adverse reaction such as heart attacks.

Breach of Duty

Like everyone else who are legally obligated to act, doctors also have an obligation to act with care and prudence. Doctors are held to higher standards, however, because they are farmers branch medical malpractice law firm experts and have the authority to make life-or-death decisions. The duty of care is found in the laws and standards that govern specific kinds of treatments and procedures.

In a negligence case it is crucial to prove that the defendant had a duty to care for the plaintiff. It must be proven that the defendant breached this duty of care. This means that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care in this particular situation. The standard of care is usually determined by what a reasonable individual would do in the situation. A reasonable driver, for instance will not go through a traffic light.

In a malpractice case experts could be required to testify regarding the standard of care that was not met and how the standard was breached. They can also discuss how the injury occurred and what could be done to prevent it from occurring.

Damages

In the United States, physicians are required to carry malpractice insurance in order to protect themselves against any losses that may arise due to medical negligence. In order to file a claim, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate both financial losses (such medical expenses and lost wages) in addition to non-economic losses (such suffering and pain).

The amount of compensation received from a successful malpractice case is contingent on how your New York medical malpractice lawyer presents the case for your losses. Your attorney will establish medically required costs by looking over your medical records, utilizing expert testimony, and consulting economic experts. Your medical malpractice lawyer must prove that you lost your earnings by proving the amount of days you were absent from work because of medical conditions, and also the reason for these absences were the result of the negligence of the defendant.

The non-economic loss can be more difficult to prove and might require the help of a professional who will give evidence about your physical, emotional and mental distress because of the negligent actions of the defendant. Loss in consortium is another type of non-economic damage. This is the inability to enjoy a loving, sexual relationship with your spouse or any other significant person as you once did. The lawyer for the defendant will attempt to challenge the non-economic damages you suffer through a process of interrogatories and depositions as well as demands for documents and declarations under the oath.

Statute of limitations

In New York, as with every state, there are definite time limits - commonly known as statutes of limitation within which a maricopa medical malpractice attorney negligence lawsuit must be filed, or else it will be dismissed by the courts. An experienced New York medical malpractice lawyer is knowledgeable about these particulars and will ensure that your case is filed within the deadlines established by law.

In the majority of cases, a victim of medical malpractice must make a claim within two and a half years of the date when the act or omission of a health care provider caused the injury or death. However like with all laws there are some exceptions to this rule. If, for instance, the error committed by the health care provider was part of a continuous course of treatment, then the "clock" of 30 months will not begin until the course of treatment has been completed or the patient has been informed of the diagnosis.

In some instances patients may not realize the problem until a long time later, for example in the event that a foreign substance is left in the body following surgery or treatment. To solve this issue, the majority of states have implemented the discovery rule. This allows injured victims in certain circumstances to extend their timeframes. Your lawyer is familiar with the rules of your state and will scrutinize the timeline of your case with care to avoid any administrative errors that could cause delays to your claim.