10 Things People Hate About Medical Malpractice Law

Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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

In the common law, doctors are expected to adhere to a certain level of care when treating patients. If a doctor violates accepted medical procedures and causes injury or death, they could be held accountable for negligence.

Duty of Care

Medical professionals must adhere to set standards that are accepted by the medical malpractice attorneys profession as being reasonable and prudent when providing medical care. If these standards aren't met and that failure causes injuries or health issues the patient may be able to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The initial step of a malpractice claim is to establish that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the healthcare provider at issue and that the entity or person had a legal obligation to act reasonably. The next step is to prove that the breach of this duty occurred. This is usually accomplished by using expert testimony that can provide a objective analysis and evaluation.

The expert witness will determine if the defendant's actions were below the standard of care that is accepted in your particular circumstance. The expert will look over your medical records and then interview or testify against you in order to make this decision.

You must also be able to establish that the breach of duty directly caused you to experience injuries. Causation is the third factor in a malpractice claim. In the majority of cases, you will need to have an obvious cause-and effect relationship between the breach of duty and subsequent injury. For instance, a wrong diagnosis could lead to the wrong treatment or medication being administered, which can result in an adverse reaction, like heart attacks.

Breach of Duty

Just like everyone else physicians, doctors are legally bound by an obligation to exercise care and medical malpractice Lawyer caution. However, doctors are held to an even higher standard due to the fact that they are medical experts and deal with life and death decisions. The duty of care is set in the rules and regulations which are applicable to specific kinds of treatments and procedures.

One of the first elements that must be proven in a negligence lawsuit is that the defendant owed a duty to care to the plaintiff. It must be established that the defendant did not fulfill that duty of care. This means that the doctor did not perform to the required standard of care applicable to the situation. The standard of care is typically determined by what a reasonable individual would do in similar circumstances. A reasonable driver, for example, would not run at a traffic light.

In a case of negligence, expert witnesses are often needed to testify about the standard of care and how it was violated. They can also discuss the reason for the injury and what could have been done to avoid it from happening.

Damages

Physicians in the United States are required to have malpractice insurance to protect their potential losses due to medical negligence. To be able to file a claim the plaintiff will need to demonstrate both financial losses (such medical expenses and lost wages) in addition to noneconomic losses (such suffering and pain).

The amount of compensation you receive from a successful malpractice suit is contingent on how effectively your New York medical malpractice attorney fights for your losses. Your lawyer can establish medically required costs by looking over your medical records, using expert testimony, and consulting economic experts. In order to prove your loss of earnings the medical malpractice lawyer must also demonstrate the number of days you were away from work because of your medical conditions and the fact that these missed work days were the result of the defendant's negligence.

Non-economic losses are more difficult to prove and could require the assistance of a professional who can provide evidence of your physical, emotional and mental distress as a result of the negligence of the defendant. Loss of consortium is a different type of non-economic harm. This is the inability to have a romantic, sexual connection with your spouse or other significant person as you once did. The lawyer representing the defendant will challenge your non-economic damages in the form of interrogatories and depositions along with requests for documents and sworn declarations.

Statute of Limitations

Like all states, New York has a statute of limitations that must be fulfilled before a medical malpractice claim can be filed. If not the court will not dismiss the case. A New York medical malpractice attorney who is experienced will be familiar with the nuances of these deadlines and will ensure that your claim is filed before the deadlines set forth by law.

In most cases, the victim of medical negligence has to make a claim within two-and-a-half years from the date the act or omission committed by the health professional resulted in death or injury. However as with all laws, there are a few exceptions to this rule. For instance in the event that the error made by the health care professional was part of a continuous course of treatment, the 30 month statutory "clock" will not start until the course of treatment is completed or until the patient is informed of the diagnosis.

In some cases, a patient may not discover the problem until quite a while later for instance the case where a foreign body remains in the body following surgery or treatment. In this regard, a majority of states have enacted the legal concept of discovery rule which permits injured victims to extend deadlines in certain situations. Your attorney will be aware of specific laws of your state and will carefully go over the timeline of your case to avoid administrative errors that can derail your claim.