Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
A medical malpractice lawyer can help injured victims receive compensation for their losses. The common law system governs medical malpractice lawsuits.
In the common law, doctors must observe a standard of care in treating their patients. If a doctor does not adhere to accepted medical practice and it results in a death or injury, he may be liable for negligence.
Duty of Care
Medical professionals must adhere to set of standards which are recognized by the medical profession as reasonable and prudent in providing healthcare. When those standards are not met and that failure causes injury or health complications patients may be able to bring 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 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 through the use of experts who can provide an objective analysis and assessment of the situation.
The expert witness will be able to help determine whether or not the defendant's actions were below the accepted standard of care in your particular case. To enable the expert to make this decision they must be able review your medical records and conduct an examination or interview of you.
It is also necessary to establish that the breach of duty caused you to suffer injury. This is known as causation and it is the third element of a malpractice claim. In the majority of instances, you'll need to have an exact cause-and-effect link between the breach of duty and the resulting injury. A mistake in diagnosis, for instance, could lead to prescriptions for the wrong drug or treatment being given. This in turn can cause a negative reaction such as a heart attack.
Breach of Duty
As with all people, are legally bound by a obligation to conduct themselves with reasonable care and with caution. Doctors are held to an even higher standard due to the fact that they are medical experts and have the authority to make life-or-death decisions. The duty of care is set in the law and standards that are situated for specific kinds of treatments and procedures.
One of the first things that must be established in a negligence lawsuit is that the defendant was bound by a duty of care to the plaintiff. It must be proven that the defendant violated this duty of care. This means that the doctor did not meet the standards of care in the particular situation. The standard of care is generally determined by what a reasonable individual would do in the situation. A reasonable driver, for example will not go through at a traffic light.
In a malpractice lawsuit, expert witnesses may be required to testify about the standard of care that was breached and how the standard was violated. They can also describe how the injury was caused and what could have been done to avoid it from happening.
Damages
In the United States, physicians are required to carry malpractice insurance in order to cover any potential losses that might arise from medical negligence. To bring an action for damages, the plaintiff must demonstrate both actual financial losses (such as medical expenses and lost wages) and non-economic losses (such as pain and suffering).
The amount you receive in a successful lawsuit depends on how well your New York
medical malpractice law firms malpractice attorney will argue for your losses. Your lawyer can establish medically required costs by looking over your medical records, utilizing expert testimony and consulting economic experts. For your loss of earnings Your medical malpractice lawyer (
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Non-economic losses are more difficult to prove, and may require the help of a professional who can give evidence about your physical, emotional, and mental suffering as a result of infractions committed by the defendant. Other forms of non-economic damages include loss of consortium, which is the inability to maintain a romantic and sexual relationship as you once could with your spouse or your significant other. The attorney representing the defendant will challenge your non-economic losses through interrogatories, depositions and requests for documents and evidence under oath.
Statute of Limitations
In New York, as with every state, there's a set of time frames - also known as statutes of limitations - within which a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed or otherwise it will be dismissed by the courts. A seasoned New York medical malpractice lawyer is familiar with these nuances and will ensure that your claim is filed before the deadlines stipulated by law.
In most instances, the victim of medical malpractice has to make a claim within two and a half years of the date at which the act or omission of a health care provider caused the injury or death. As with all laws, this rule has its exceptions. For instance in the event that the health care provider's error was part of a continuous course of treatment, the 30 month statutory "clock" will not begin until the treatment is completed or the patient learns about the diagnosis.
Additionally, in certain situations such as when an object that is foreign remains within the body following surgery or treatment, it may not be possible for a patient to realize the issue until much later. To tackle this issue, the majority of states have adopted the discovery rule. This allows injured victims in certain circumstances to extend their deadlines. Your attorney will know the specific laws in your state and will carefully look over your case's timeline in order to ensure that there are no administrative mistakes which could cause delays to your claim.