Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A medical malpractice lawyer assists injured victims receive compensation for their losses. The common law system regulates medical malpractice claims.

In common law, doctors must follow a standard of care in treating their patients. If a doctor violates accepted medical practices and causes injury or death, then he could be held accountable for negligence.

Duty of Care

Medical professionals are expected to adhere to a set standard accepted by the medical industry as reasonable and prudent in providing medical healthcare. A patient could be eligible to file a claim for medical malpractice if the standards aren't met and the failure causes injuries or health complications.

The initial step of a malpractice lawsuit is to prove that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the healthcare provider at issue and that the entity or person was obligated to act with reasonable care. You must then prove the breach occurred. This is usually done using expert testimony that can provide an objective analysis and evaluation.

This expert witness can help determine if the defendant's actions were not in line with the accepted standards in your particular case. The expert will review your medical records, and then interview or testify against you to determine this.

You should also be able to establish that the breach of duty caused you to experience injuries. Causation is the 3rd element in a malpractice lawsuit. In most cases you will require a direct cause and result connection between the breach of duties and the subsequent injury. For instance, a misdiagnosis could lead to the wrong treatment or medication being prescribed and results in an adverse reaction, such as heart attacks.

Breach of Duty

As with all other professionals who are legally obligated to act, doctors also have an obligation to exercise diligence and care. Doctors are held to higher standards, however, because they are medical experts and have the authority to make life-or-death decisions. The duty of care is set in the laws and standards that are situated for specific types of procedures and treatments.

In a case of negligence, it is essential to establish that the defendant was bound by the obligation of taking care of the plaintiff. Then, it has to be established that the defendant violated the duty of care. This means that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care in the specific circumstance. The standard of care is typically determined by what a normal person would do under similar situations. A reasonable driver, for instance would not use at a traffic light.

In a case of negligence, expert witnesses are often needed to testify on the standard of care and the way in which it was violated. They can also describe the cause of the injury and explain how they could have prevented it.

Damages

In the United States, physicians are required to carry malpractice insurance in order to cover any potential losses that might arise due to medical negligence. To file a lawsuit, the plaintiff will need to show both financial losses (such medical expenses and lost wages) as well as non-economic losses (such pain and suffering).

The amount of compensation you receive from a successful malpractice suit is contingent on the way in which your New York medical malpractice lawyer can argue for your losses. Your attorney can establish the medically necessary costs by reviewing your medical malpractice lawyers records, using expert testimony, and consulting economic experts. For your loss of earnings, your medical malpractice lawyer must also show the number of times you missed work due to your medical complications and the fact that these days off work were the result of the defendant's negligence.

Non-economic damages can be harder to prove. You may need assistance from a professional witness who can detail your physical, mental, and emotional suffering as an direct result of defendant's negligence. Other forms of non-economic damages include loss of consortium, which is an inability to maintain a loving and sexual relationship as you once could with your spouse or significant other. The lawyer representing the defendant will contest your non-economic damages by a process of interrogatories, depositions and requests for documents and evidence under swearing.

Statute of Limitations

In New York, as with every state, there are specific time limits - commonly known as statutes or limitations within which a medical malpractice law firms malpractice lawsuit must be filed otherwise it will be rejected by the courts. A seasoned New York medical malpractice lawyer is well-versed in these details and will ensure that your case is filed by the deadlines established by law.

In most cases, the victim of medical negligence is required to bring a suit within two and a half years of the date that the act or omission by a health care provider caused the death or injury. However like with all laws there are some exceptions to this rule. For medical malpractice lawyer instance when the health care provider's error was part of a continuous course of treatment, the 30 month mandatory "clock" will not begin until the treatment is completed or when the patient learns of the diagnosis.

In some instances like when a foreign object is left within the body following surgery or medical malpractice lawyer treatment, it may not be possible for a patient's to recognize that there was a problem until much later. This is why many states have enacted the legal concept of discovery rule, which allows injured victims to extend deadlines in certain situations. Your attorney will be aware of specific laws of your state, and will carefully look over your case's timeline in order to avoid any administrative errors which could cause delays to your claim.