Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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

In the common law, doctors must follow an ethical standard when treating their patients. If a physician does not follow the accepted medical practices and results in injury or death or even death, he could be held responsible for negligence.

Duty of Care

medical malpractice attorneys professionals must adhere to a set standards that are accepted by the medical profession as being reasonable and prudent in their treatment. When those standards are not followed and the result is harm or health issues the patient could be able to sue for medical malpractice lawsuit.

The initial step of a malpractice claim is to establish 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 in a reasonable way. Then, you have to prove that a breach of that obligation occurred. This is typically done with the use of experts who can provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the case.

The expert witness will help determine whether the defendant's actions were below the standard of care in your case. The expert will look over your medical records and also interview or question you to make this determination.

You must be able to demonstrate that the breach directly caused your injury. Causation is the third element in a claim for malpractice. In the majority of cases, you will require a direct cause-and- result connection between the breach of duty and the resulting injury. A misdiagnosis, for example one, could result in prescribing the wrong medication or treatment being administered. This in turn can result in an adverse reaction such as a heart attack.

Breach of Duty

As with all other professionals, doctors have a legal obligation to exercise care and prudence. Doctors are held to an even higher standard due to the fact that they are medical malpractice law firms (the advantage) experts who make life-or-death decisions. The duty of care is outlined in the regulations and laws for specific types of treatment and procedures.

In a case of negligence, it is vital to prove that the defendant owed a duty to care for the plaintiff. It must be established that the defendant breached this obligation of care. This means that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care in the given situation. The standard of care is usually determined by what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances. A reasonable driver, for example will not go through a traffic light.

In a malpractice case experts are usually needed to testify on the standard of care and the way in which it was violated. They can also provide the reason behind the injury and suggest ways to have prevented it.

Damages

Physicians in the United States are required to have malpractice insurance to protect the risk of losses resulting from medical negligence. To bring a claim for damages the plaintiff must demonstrate both actual financial losses (such as medical expenses and lost wages) and non-economic losses (such as suffering and pain).

The amount you receive from a successful suit for malpractice is contingent upon how well your New York medical malpractice attorney fights for your losses. Your attorney can establish medically required costs by looking over your medical records, using expert testimony, and collaborating with economic experts. Your medical malpractice lawyer must prove the loss of your earnings by proving the number of days you have missed working due to medical conditions, and medical malpractice law firms also that these missed days resulted from the defendant's negligence.

Non-economic damages can be more difficult to prove, and may require the help of a professional who can testify about your physical, emotional and mental suffering due to the negligent actions of the defendant. Other types of non-economic damages include loss of consortium, which is an inability to maintain a loving and sexual relationship as you did with your spouse or significant other. The lawyer representing the defendant will contest your non-economic damages by interrogatories, depositions, and requests for documents and statements under oath.

Statute of Limitations

As in every state, New York has a statute of limitations that must be met before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed. If not the court will decide to dismiss the case. An experienced New York medical malpractice lawyer is knowledgeable about these particulars and will make sure that your claim is filed before the deadlines stipulated by law.

In the majority of cases, the victim of medical negligence must be able to file a lawsuit within two and a half years from the time the act or omission by medical malpractice attorneys professionals caused injury or death. As with all laws, this one is not without exceptions. For instance, if the health care provider's error was part of an ongoing course of treatment, the 30 month statutory "clock" will not begin until the treatment is completed or when the patient becomes aware of the diagnosis.

Additionally, in some cases like when the foreign object remains inside the body after surgery or treatment, it might not be possible for a patient or patient's family to determine that there was a problem until much later. This is why many states have adopted the legal concept of discovery rule which permits injured victims to extend these deadlines in certain situations. Your lawyer will be aware of the specific laws in your state and carefully look over your case's timeline in order to avoid any administrative errors which could cause delays to your claim.