Medical Malpractice Attorneys

We place an enormous amount of trust in medical professionals to provide a quality standard of care and make expert decisions that protect our health and well-being. However, doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other healthcare providers don’t always uphold their responsibilities, resulting in errors that can have devastating consequences. When negligence directly causes preventable harm to a patient, it may constitute medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the accepted standards of practice in their profession, acting in a way that causes injury to a patient. This substandard care can take many forms – misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose a condition, making medication errors, performing surgery improperly, disregarding patient histories or allergies, failing to recommend life-saving treatment, and much more.

Not every mistake rises to the level of medical malpractice. Injuries can unfortunately occur even when providers follow best practices. True malpractice involves negligence where the provider was not reasonably skilled, failed to provide treatment meeting their profession’s accepted standards, or provided substandard treatment that directly caused quantifiable harm.

When medical malpractice does occur, the impacts on victims can be catastrophic – worsening of existing conditions, permanent disabilities or disfigurement, extraordinary medical bills, lost income potential, reduced quality of life, or even wrongful death. This is why medical malpractice lawsuits exist – to hold negligent parties accountable and provide compensation for the extensive damages inflicted.

However, proving malpractice and establishing a viable case can be extremely difficult for victims. Requirements include:

• Documentation that a doctor-patient relationship existed establishing the duty of care
• Identification of the negligent medical provider’s violation of the standard of care
• Evidence that the provider’s negligence directly caused the patient’s injury
• Proof of quantifiable damages like lost wages, medical costs, pain/suffering, etc.

Given the complexity of the issues, having an experienced medical malpractice attorney is essential. We understand how to obtain expert testimony confirming substandard care, properly present evidence substantiating damages, and navigate the labyrinths of bringing malpractice claims.

If successful, victims of medical malpractice may be awarded economic damages covering monetary losses like medical bills and lost income, as well as non-economic damages for pain/suffering, disfigurement, disability, and reduced quality of life. In egregious cases, punitive damages may also be awarded to punish and deter especially reckless behavior by providers.

While lawsuits can’t undo the harm caused by malpractice, they are a crucial avenue for victims to receive compensation and accountability. Patient safety should always be the top priority – when that obligation is severely breached, the legal system provides recourse.

To prove malpractice, you generally must establish: 1) A doctor-patient relationship existed with a professional duty of care. 2) The provider’s actions deviated from and violated the applicable standard of care. 3) The provider’s negligence directly caused your injury. 4) Your injury resulted in specific damages like disability, lost income, suffering, etc.

Common examples include misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose a condition, disregarding patient histories/allergies, unnecessary surgery, operating on the wrong body part, leaving instruments inside a patient, prescribing incorrect medication/dosages, premature hospital discharge, failing to order necessary testing, and ignoring or misreading lab results.

When a healthcare provider’s negligence results in preventable injuries or harm to a patient, the impacts can be life-altering. Victims of medical malpractice often face staggering medical bills, loss of income, permanent disabilities or disfigurements, and a diminished quality of life. While no amount of money can undo the suffering caused by a doctor’s mistakes, monetary damages awarded through malpractice lawsuits can provide crucial compensation to offset the many losses incurred.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence, it’s important to understand the various types of damages that may be recovered through a successful medical malpractice claim. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can evaluate the details of your case and fight to maximize the compensation you receive. Potential damages in these cases generally fall into a few main categories:

Economic Damages

These are the objectively verifiable monetary losses and costs stemming from the malpractice incident, including:

• Medical Expenses: All healthcare bills related to treating the injuries caused by negligence, including for hospitalization, surgery, medical procedures, physician services, medication, medical equipment, physical therapy, home health care services, and any ongoing treatment required.
• Lost Wages: Income, salaries, and other compensation lost as a result of being unable to work during recovery or due to permanent disabilities. This accounts for both past and future earnings capacity.
• Loss of Earning Capacity: If the injuries prevent you from returning to your previous occupation, field of work or earning at the same level going forward, you can recover damages for the diminished future earnings ability.

Economic damages compensate for all the tangible financial losses, both past and projected into the future. Calculations rely on evidence like medical bills, expert testimony on future care needs, and documentation of earnings.

Non-Economic Damages

While more challenging to quantify, these damages aim to compensate for the personal losses from the malpractice injuries, such as:

• Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the physical and emotional trauma experienced from the medical errors, both short-term and ongoing in cases of permanent disabilities or disfigurement.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: When injuries dramatically impair your quality of daily living and ability to participate in normal activities, hobbies, family events, etc., you can seek damages for that loss of enjoyment/quality of life.
• Loss of Consortium: If the injuries deprive a spouse of their partner’s companionship, affection, or ability to maintain the marital relationship, they may be awarded loss of consortium damages.

Non-economic damages provide compensation for subjective, non-monetary impacts – both physical and emotional. These are challenging to prove and calculate accurately.

Punitive Damages

In exceptional cases where a healthcare provider’s conduct is found to be grossly negligent, reckless, willful or malicious, punitive damages may also be awarded beyond compensation for economic and non-economic harm. Punitive damages aim to further penalize and deter such egregious malpractice from recurring.

Determining what damages to pursue and the potential monetary values requires lengthy analysis by skilled medical malpractice attorneys. Their legal expertise is critical to compile persuasive evidence, retain expert witnesses, account for long-term implications, and vigorously advocate for maximum compensation reflective of all the damages incurred.

The physical, emotional, and financial devastation caused by preventable medical errors is difficult to overstate. While no legal award can turn back time, recovering rightful damages holds negligent providers accountable and provides victims of malpractice with the resources to put their lives back together as much as possible.

Yes, each state has a statute of limitations or time limit for filing malpractice suits, generally between 1-3 years from when the injury occurred or was discovered. Some states have special rules extending the timeframe for claims involving minors.

Yes, testimony from respected medical experts is essential to establish the standard of care, explain how it was violated, and confirm the negligence directly caused your injuries. Experts analyze the full medical record and circumstances.

Malpractice lawsuits are extremely complex and difficult to win without legal expertise. Experienced malpractice lawyers understand how to investigate incidents, obtain evidence/expert testimony, navigate procedural rules, calculate damages, negotiate settlements, take cases to trial if needed, and maximize your chances of a successful outcome.