Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A medical malpractice lawyer helps patients who have suffered injuries receive compensation for their losses. The common law system regulates medical malpractice lawsuits.

In common law, doctors are required to adhere to a standard of care in treating their patients. If a physician does not follow accepted medical practice and it results in an injury or death, he may be liable for negligence.

Duty of Care

Medical professionals must adhere to set of standards that are recognized by the medical profession as reasonable and prudent when providing medical care. A patient may be able to file a lawsuit against a medical professional if those standards aren't being met and the failure results in injury or health complications.

The first step in a case of malpractice is to establish that you were a client of the healthcare provider and that they had a duty to act in a reasonable manner. You then need to prove that the breach occurred. This is usually done through the use of expert testimony who can provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the situation.

An expert witness can determine whether the defendant's actions were below the accepted standard in your particular case. The expert will need to look over your medical records and also interview or question you in order to make this determination.

You must be able to prove that the breach directly caused your injury. This is known as causation and it is the third element in a malpractice claim. In the majority of instances, you'll need to have a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the breach of duty and subsequent injury. For medical Malpractice law Firm example, a misdiagnosis could lead to the wrong medication or treatment being administered and can result in an adverse reaction like a heart attack.

Breach of Duty

As with all other professionals medical malpractice law firms professionals, doctors are under a legal obligation to exercise care and caution. However doctors are held to an even more stringent standard because they are considered experts in medicine and have to make life and death decisions. The duty of care is outlined in the law and standards that are situated for specific kinds of treatments and procedures.

In a case of negligence it is crucial to prove that the defendant was bound by a duty to care for the plaintiff. It must be established that the defendant violated this duty of care. This means that the doctor did not meet the standards of care in this particular circumstance. The standard of care is usually determined by what a reasonable person would do in the situation. A reasonable driver, for example will not go through a traffic light.

In a malpractice lawsuit, expert witnesses may be needed to testify on the standard of care that was not met and how this standard was violated. They can also discuss the cause of the injury and suggest ways to have prevented it.

Damages

In the United States, physicians are required to have malpractice insurance to cover any potential loss that may result from medical malpractice Law firm negligence. In order to make an action for damages the plaintiff must show 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 suit for malpractice is contingent upon how well your New York medical malpractice attorney defends your losses. Your lawyer can establish medically required costs by looking over your medical records, using expert testimony and consulting economic experts. Your medical malpractice attorney must prove the loss of earnings by proving the amount of days you were absent working due to medical issues, and that these days resulted from the negligence of the defendant.

Non-economic damages are more difficult to prove. You may require the assistance of an expert witness who can explain your physical, mental and emotional pain as directly resulting from the defendant's negligence. Loss of consortium is a second kind of non-economic loss. It is the inability to maintain a romantic, sexual connection with your spouse or any other significant person as you once did. The attorney representing the defendant will challenge your non-economic losses through a process of interrogatories, depositions, and requests for statements and documents under oath.

Statute of limitations

Like all states, New York has a statute of limitations that must be met before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed. If not the court will not dismiss the case. An experienced New York medical malpractice lawyer is well-versed in these details and will ensure that your case is filed before the deadlines set by law.

In most instances, the victim of medical malpractice has to bring a lawsuit within two and a half years of the date at which the negligence or act of a healthcare professional caused the injury or medical malpractice law Firm death. Like all laws, this law is not without exceptions. For instance in the event that the error by the health professional was part of an ongoing course of treatment, the 30 month mandatory "clock" will not begin until the course of treatment is completed or when the patient is informed of the diagnosis.

In some instances the patient may not recognize the problem until a long time after, for example the case where a foreign body is left within the body after surgery or treatment. To address this issue, the majority of states have adopted the discovery rule. This permits injured victims in certain circumstances to extend their timeframes. Your lawyer will be aware of the specific rules in your state and will look over your case's timeline in order to avoid any administrative errors that could delay your claim.