Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Medical professionals must follow an ethical standard in their care of patients. If a healthcare provider fails to adhere to this standard and that failure causes injuries or complications for the patient, there may be grounds for a malpractice claim.

A successful malpractice lawsuit may assist in paying medical costs as well as pay back lost wages and acknowledge discomfort and pain. However, medical malpractice lawsuits are often complicated.

Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis is among the most frequent medical malpractice claims. This type of case is typically brought by a health care doctor who fails to correctly diagnose a patient's illness or injury. For instance, a doctor might diagnose a patient as having pneumonia when the patient in fact is suffering from staph. A mistake can have serious consequences, such as death.

According to medical malpractice insurance companies, claims related to diagnosis make up between 9 percent of claims (obstetrics and 61 percent in pediatrics) or their total claims. However the data on medical malpractice claims is not comprehensive and could be biased toward more severe errors. Furthermore, claims often lapse or are dismissed without payment and a large number of errors that are meritorious do not result in a malpractice lawsuit.

A plaintiff must prove that, in order to be successful in a case for medical malpractice, that the doctor did not adhere to the standard of care when diagnosing the condition. A lawyer for the plaintiff must prove that the doctor's mistake resulted in injury.

The litigation process in medical malpractice cases can be costly as well as time-consuming and emotionally charged. While the majority of medical malpractice cases settle out of court, attorneys representing both parties as well as expert witnesses must spend time and resources in discovery, negotiation, and trial preparation. Physicians are also frequently required to pay malpractice insurance as the claims process is developing. These expenses have led some to call for reforms to tort law that will reduce the cost and speed up settlements.

Treatment Errors

If you visit a doctor or hospital for treatment, you're expecting to receive medical care that is consistent with the established guidelines of practice in your local area. This includes accurate diagnosis and a suitable course of treatment and adequate monitoring to ensure that your health improves. However, errors made by nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel can be serious and cause permanent injuries or even death.

These mistakes can take a variety of forms. A hospital staff member could misread the chart of a patient and administer the incorrect medication. This type of error is most common in emergency rooms where staff are under pressure and time is limited. It can also happen when a physician treats an issue outside of his or her area of specialization.

Other types of errors include prescribing the wrong medication or prescribing the wrong dosage to patients, which can result in injuries. These errors can be committed by doctors, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants and optometrists. These errors could also result in the failure to suggest or prescribe the appropriate follow-up procedure to correct the error.

Incorrect medication can cause a variety of serious injuries. For instance, taking the wrong blood thinner specifically designed for patients with heart problems could cause a bleeding disorder or cause the patient to suffer a stroke. If you or a loved one has been injured due to an error in medical care and you are concerned about the consequences, consult an experienced New York medical negligence lawyer to determine if you're eligible to claim compensation.

Negligence

When medical professionals or doctors do not follow accepted standards of care, they may be liable for carelessness. This can happen in many places, such as hospitals, doctors' offices, therapy clinics, and nursing homes. If a physician violates those standards and a patient suffers permanent harm it could be a requirement to compensate the victim for the harm.

In order to win a malpractice case the party who was injured has to establish that the doctor's failure in the discharge of professional duties caused the injury. This is known as causation, and is a crucial element of the legal standard. The breach must be a direct cause of the injury, and the damages must be quantifiable.

In cases of medical malpractice the attorney representing the plaintiff must also convince jurors that it is more probable than not that the physician's action or inaction led to the damages demanded. This is a challenging task as people are not always clear in their memories or are affected by the opinions that the other side will say.

It is vital that the lawyer is knowledgeable of how the medical profession operates. This knowledge can be used to show that the breach of professional duties led to the patient's injury. Medical malpractice cases can be brought in Federal or State courts, and often require an expert witness to define the standard of medical care that was violated.

Punitive Damages

We assume that medical professionals will treat us with skill, care and professionalism. However, serious mistakes can happen, leading to lifelong injuries or even death. If those errors result in wrongful death, family members of the victims could be entitled to compensation for the loss they've suffered.

The wrongful death case can involve lawsuits against hospitals, doctors nurses, physical therapists pharmacists, diagnostic imaging technicians, and even manufacturers of medical equipment. It's important to sue everyone involved since many parties could be at fault. Victims should consult their New York medical malpractice law firms negligence lawyers to determine which individuals or companies are responsible.

Punitive damages are intended to punish the offender and discourage them from repeating the same behavior in the future. Contrary to compensatory damages which are intended to address specific harms they can be applied to an entire class of people, and they are usually reserved for extreme misconduct.

In a medical malpractice case the first class of damages is compensation for financial losses. This includes medical costs and lost wages. Your New York medical malpractice lawyer can help you establish the amount of your losses by giving an expert opinion on what constitutes a breach of standard of care in your particular area and specialization. This is a crucial step because without this evidence, your claim could be dismissed at the initial hearing.