Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Law Firms Malpractice Lawyer

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

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

Duty of Care

medical malpractice lawyers professionals must adhere to a set standards that are accepted by the medical profession as being reasonable and prudent in their healthcare. If those standards are not followed and if they cause injury or health complications the patient may be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The first part of a malpractice claim is to establish that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the healthcare provider and that the person or entity had a legal obligation to act with reasonable care. Then, you have to prove that the breach of this duty occurred. This is typically done with the recourse to expert witnesses who can provide an objective analysis and assessment of the situation.

The expert witness will help determine whether the defendant's actions fell below the accepted standard in your particular case. To allow the expert to determine this, they will need to be able to review your medical records and conduct an examination or interview with you.

You also need to establish that the breach of duty caused the injuries. This is known as causation and it is the third component of a malpractice claim. In most cases, you will need to have an immediate cause-and-effect connection between the breach of duty and the resulting injury. For instance, a misdiagnosis could result in the wrong treatment or medication being administered and in turn causes an adverse reaction, such as a heart attack.

Breach of Duty

As with all other professionals who are legally obligated to act, doctors also have an obligation to act with the utmost care and caution. Doctors are held to higher standards however, since they are medical experts and can make life-or-death decisions. The obligation of care is outlined in the laws and standards that govern specific types of treatment and procedures.

One of the first elements that must be proven in a negligence lawsuit is that the defendant was bound by a duty care to the plaintiff. It must be established that the defendant did not fulfill this obligation of care. This means that the doctor did not adhere to the standard of care for the situation. The quality of care is usually determined by what a reasonable person would do under the circumstances. A reasonable driver, for instance will not go through a traffic light.

In a case of malpractice expert witnesses could be needed to testify on the standard of care that was violated and how the standard was breached. They can also discuss how the injury was caused 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 the risk of losses resulting from medical malpractice law firms negligence. To file a lawsuit, the plaintiff will need to demonstrate both financial losses (such medical expenses and lost wages) in addition to non-economic losses (such pain and suffering).

The amount of compensation you receive in a successful lawsuit depends on how well your New York medical malpractice attorney argues for your losses. Your lawyer can determine your medically required expenses through a thorough review of your medical records, evidence from experts and the assistance of economic experts. Your medical malpractice lawyer must prove the loss of earnings by proving the amount of days that you missed from work because of medical conditions, and also that these days were due to the negligence of the defendant.

Non-economic damages are more difficult to prove. You may require assistance from a professional witness who can explain your mental, physical, and emotional distress as an direct result of defendant's negligence. Loss of consortium is another type of non-economic injury. This is the inability to maintain a loving, sexual relationship with your spouse or any other significant person as you used to. The lawyer for the defendant will attempt to challenge the non-economic damages you suffer through a process of interrogatories, depositions, and requests for statements and documents under the oath.

Statute of Limitations

Like every state, New York has a statute of limitations that must be met before a medical malpractice claim can be filed. If not, the court will dismiss it. An experienced New York medical malpractice lawyer is knowledgeable about these particulars and will ensure your claim is filed within the deadlines stipulated by law.

In most cases, victims of medical malpractice has to make a claim within two and a half years of the date at which the negligence or act of a healthcare professional caused the injury or death. However, as with all laws there are some exceptions to this rule. If, for example, the error committed by the health care provider was part of a continuous treatment plan, then the "clock" of 30 months cannot begin until the treatment is completed or the patient is informed of the diagnosis.

In some cases it is possible that a patient will not recognize the problem until a long time after, for example in the event that a foreign substance is left in the body following surgery or treatment. For this reason, most states have enacted a legal concept called the discovery rule, which allows injured victims to extend these deadlines under certain circumstances. Your attorney will be familiar with the laws of your state and will scrutinize your case timeline carefully to avoid administrative errors that could impede your claim.