Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Medical professionals must comply with an exacting standard of care for their patients. If a health care provider does not adhere to this standard, and if the failure results in injuries or complications for the patient, there could be grounds for a malpractice claim.

A successful malpractice suit can aid in the payment of medical expenses as well as recoup lost wages and acknowledge pain and suffering. However, medical malpractice lawsuits are usually complicated.

Misdiagnosis

The misdiagnosis of a patient is among the most common medical malpractice claims. This kind of claim is typically brought by a health care provider who incorrectly diagnoses an injury or illness of a patient. A physician might identify a patient as having pneumonia, when in reality the patient has staph. A misdiagnosis can have serious consequences, such as death.

According to medical malpractice insurance companies, diagnosis-related malpractice claims account for between 9 percent (obstetrics) and 61% (pediatrics) of their total claims. Medical malpractice claims are comparatively small and could be biased towards more serious mistakes. Claimants are typically closed or lapse without payment and a lot of good mistakes are not likely to result in the filing of a malpractice lawsuit.

To succeed in bringing a medical malpractice claim, a plaintiff must prove that the doctor did not follow the standard of care when diagnosing the condition. The lawyer for the plaintiff must show that the doctor's mistake directly caused injury.

The litigation process of medical malpractice cases can be expensive as well as time-consuming and emotionally charged. Even though the majority of medical malpractice claims are settled outside of court, attorneys and expert witnesses must invest time and money on discovery, negotiations and trial preparation. In addition, physicians are often forced to pay their malpractice insurance premiums while the claims process unfolds. This has led to calls for tort reform which could reduce the cost of litigation as well as encourage quicker and more fair settlements.

Errors in Treatment

You should expect that when you visit a doctor or hospital to receive treatment, the medical treatment you receive will be in line with the standard of care in your community. This includes proper diagnosis and a sensible course of treatment and adequate follow-up to ensure your health improves. However, mistakes made by nurses, doctors and other medical personnel can be devastating and cause permanent injuries, or even death.

These errors can take many forms. For instance staff members at hospitals may misread a patient's medical chart and then administer the wrong medication. This kind of error is usually seen in emergency rooms where staff members are under pressure and their time is a problem. It could also happen when a physician treats an issue outside of their area of expertise.

Other kinds of errors could include prescribing the wrong medication or prescribing the wrong dosage to patients, which can result in injuries. These mistakes can be made by pharmacists, doctors, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants and optometrists. These errors may also include the failure to suggest or prescribe the follow-up treatment to rectify the error.

Mistakes in medication can cause various serious injuries. Heart patients who are taking a blood thinner could cause a serious bleeding disorder. It could also cause a stroke. If you or someone you love was injured by a medical mistake and you are concerned about the consequences, consult an experienced New York medical negligence lawyer to determine if you are eligible to seek compensation.

Negligence

When medical professionals or doctors fail to adhere to accepted standards of care, they may be liable for negligence. This can happen in many different settings, such as hospitals, doctor's office, therapy clinics, and nursing homes. If a doctor does not adhere to these guidelines and a patient is permanently hurt it could be necessary to pay for the damage.

To prevail in a malpractice lawsuit the plaintiff has to show that the doctor's breach in their professional duties led to his or her injuries. This is known as causation and is an essential aspect of the legal norm. The breach must be a direct cause for the injury, and the damages must be quantifiable.

In the case of medical negligence, a plaintiff's lawyer must also convince the jury that it is more likely than not that a doctor's actions or inactions contributed to the damages sought. This is a challenging job since people aren't always in a clear mind or are influenced by what they think that the other side will argue.

It is important that the lawyer has a good understanding of how the medical profession works. This knowledge can be used to prove that the breach in professional duties caused the patient's injury. Medical malpractice cases are filed in federal or state courts and often include expert witnesses who explain how the standard of care was not met.

Punitive Damages

We are often conditioned to believe that we can trust medical professionals to treat us with skill and care. Incorrect treatment can result in serious injuries or even death. If these errors cause an unintentional death, the victim and their loved ones may be entitled to compensation for the losses they've suffered.

In cases of wrongful death, hospitals, doctors and nurses as well as pharmacists, physical therapists and doctors as well as diagnostic imaging technicians and manufacturers of medical equipment could be sued. Since many parties could be accountable in a case, it's generally recommended for victims to claim against them all while working with their New York medical malpractice lawyers to determine which people or companies should be sued.

Punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant and deter them from repeating the same behavior in the future. As opposed to compensatory damages that are designed to address specific damages however, punitive damages can be imposed on a large group of people, and they are typically reserved for the most serious of violations.

The first category of damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit is a reimbursement for actual financial losses, such as expenses for medical treatment and lost wages. Your New York medical malpractice lawyer can assist you in determining the amount of your losses by providing an expert's opinion on what constitutes a breach of the standards of care in the specific area of your case as well as in the specialty. This is a crucial procedure, since without the evidence you need to support your claim it could be dismissed in the preliminary hearing.