Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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

In the common law, doctors must adhere to a standard of care in treating their patients. If a doctor does not adhere to the accepted medical practices and results in a death or injury, he may be liable for negligence.

Duty of Care

Medical professionals are required to adhere to a set standards accepted by the medical industry as reasonable and prudent when providing healthcare. Patients may be legally able to bring a lawsuit for medical malpractice if those standards aren't being met and the failure results in injury or health complications.

The first element of a malpractice lawsuit is to prove that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the healthcare provider in question and medical malpractice that the person or entity had a legal obligation to act with reasonable care. The next step is to prove that a breach of that duty occurred. This is typically done with the recourse to expert witnesses who can provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the situation.

This expert witness will help determine whether or not the defendant's actions fall below the standard of care that is accepted in your particular circumstance. The expert will review your medical records, and interview or cross-check you in order to make this decision.

It is also necessary to prove that the breach of duty directly led you to experience injuries. Causation is the third factor in a malpractice lawsuit. In the majority of cases, you will need to have a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the breach of duty and the resulting injury. For instance, a wrong diagnosis could lead to the wrong treatment or medication being administered and that could result in an adverse reaction like heart attacks.

Breach of Duty

Like all people, are required by law to fulfill a obligation to conduct themselves with reasonable care and caution. However doctors are held to an even higher standard due to the fact that they are considered medical experts and Medical Malpractice law Firm have to make life and death decisions. The obligation of care is found in laws and standards for specific types of treatments and procedures.

One of the first things that needs to be established in a negligence case is that the defendant owed a duty to care to the plaintiff. It must be proved that the defendant violated the duty of care. This means that the doctor did not meet the standards of care in the specific circumstance. The quality of care is usually determined by what a reasonable individual would do in the same situation. A reasonable driver, for instance would not use an intersection at a stoplight.

In a malpractice case, expert witnesses may be required to testify about the standard of care that was breached and the way in which this standard was breached. They can also provide a detailed explanation of the cause of the injury and what could be done to stop it from happening.

Damages

Physicians in the United States are required to have malpractice insurance to protect the risk of losses resulting from medical negligence. To file a lawsuit, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate both financial losses (such medical expenses and lost wages), as well as non-economic losses (such suffering and pain).

The amount of compensation you receive from a successful suit for malpractice is contingent upon how well your New York medical malpractice attorney argues for your losses. Your attorney will be able to determine your medically required expenses by examining your skokie medical malpractice attorney records, evidence from experts, and the use of economic experts. For the loss of your earnings your medical malpractice lawyer has to establish the number of days you were away from work due to your medical condition and also the fact that these days off work resulted from the defendant's negligence.

Non-economic losses are more difficult to prove and might require the assistance of a professional who can provide evidence of your physical, emotional, and mental suffering as a result of the infractions committed by the defendant. Loss of consortium is a second type of non-economic damage. It is the inability to have a loving, sexual relationship with your spouse, or any other significant person as you used to. The lawyer representing the defendant will contest your non-economic damages through interrogatories and depositions as well as requests for statements and documents under oath.

Statute of Limitations

In New York, as with every state, there are definite time limitations - referred to as statutes of limitation within which a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed otherwise it will be dismissed by the courts. A seasoned New York medical malpractice lawyer is familiar with these nuances and will make sure that your claim is filed within the deadlines established by law.

In the majority of cases, the victim of medical negligence must make a claim within two-and-a-half years from the time the act or omission committed by medical professionals caused injury or death. Like all laws, this law is not without exceptions. For instance when the error made by the health care professional was part of an ongoing course of treatment, the 30-month legal "clock" will not start until that course of treatment is completed or when the patient becomes aware of the diagnosis.

In certain instances, a patient may not discover the problem until quite a while later, for example the case where a foreign body is left within the body after surgery or treatment. This is why many states have adopted an idea of law known as the discovery rule, which allows injured victims to extend these deadlines in certain situations. Your attorney will be aware of specific rules of your state and carefully review your case timeline to avoid administrative errors which could cause delays to your claim.