We hold doctors and healthcare professionals to a high standard of care, and we trust them to keep us healthy and provide expert treatment, care and compassion when we need it most. However, there are rare cases when those trusted medical professionals cause injury to a patient through a negligent act or an error in diagnosis, treatment or aftercare.
If you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice, you’ve suffered enough. You need an advocate by your side who will fight for the compensation you deserve, and take steps to ensure others don’t suffer the same harm. Keep reading to find out how a medical negligence lawyer can help you when you need it most.
What is a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
A medical malpractice lawyer is a type of personal injury lawyer who focuses on helping patients who have been injured by a doctor or hospital while under their care. This type of lawyer brings lawsuits on behalf of the injured patient or surviving family members, and they may file suit against all negligent parties including doctors, insurance companies, hospitals, clinics and medical corporations.
Some of the most common examples of medical malpractice include:
- Birth injuries involving hypoxia or other fetal distress that leads to cerebral palsy, other brain injuries or other permanent injuries
- Failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis and/or delayed diagnosis
- Emergency room negligence, including failure to provide prompt treatment
- Surgical errors, including anesthesia problems and wrong-site surgery
- Nursing malpractice
- Pathology and radiology errors
- Medication errors such as under- or overdosing, including pharmacy errors
- Premature discharge from a medical facility or inadequate follow-up care
- Anesthesia errors and/or negligent administration of anesthesia
What Happens When a Medical Malpractice Attorney Takes a Case?
When a malpractice attorney litigates your case, it’s up to them to prove that the hospital or healthcare professional who provided your care was negligent or made an error. Just because you were injured as a result of your care does not automatically constitute negligence. Some circumstances out of the doctor’s control can result in a medical error that could not have been prevented. That’s why proving medical negligence requires the help of a medical neglect lawyer who has experience with these specific and complicated types of cases.
In order to successfully file a medical malpractice claim, your lawyer will need to prove the following:
- Duty of care. As a core principle of personal injury law, a doctor or healthcare professional must abide by their legal duty to act responsibly, consistent with established medical standards, so as to avoid harm or injury to their patients. They must treat patients with the professionalism and skill that a similarly trained professional would. In a medical malpractice case, your lawyer will need to determine precisely what care was required in your case, including the correct procedures for your treatment and aftercare.
- Breach of duty. A medical malpractice claim can only be filed if and when your lawyer can prove that your doctor failed to provide the level of care that was required.
- Causation. This part of the medical malpractice claim involves showing that the breach of duty was the cause of your injury, no matter how vague or complicated the circumstances.
- Damages. The final aspect of your case that a medical malpractice lawyer will need to prove is the degree of damage that the injury caused you. This can include one or any of the following: a loss of income, increased medical care, costs required for adapting to your injury, pain and suffering, etc.
How a Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help Win Your Case
If you have been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, you deserve to be compensated — not just for your injury and the medical bills you’ve acquired as a result, but also for the non-economic damages your injury caused. Damage categories include things like future medical expenses, loss of income and the emotional distress you’ve suffered. A medical malpractice attorney is an advocate who fights for the justice and compensation you deserve, when you need it most.
A medical malpractice firm will represent your case entirely, offering help in the following ways.
- Legal knowledge. No matter how clear a case may seem, there are often many different factors that can make your case more complex than it appears. An experienced lawyer will be well versed in how to litigate successfully throughout all stages of your case, putting you in the best position to recover compensation.
- Medical knowledge. Because these types of cases are so specific and complicated, this is not an area of law where a general practice lawyer will be successful. Your lawsuit will require that both plaintiff and defendant have testimony and evidence from medical experts, which means your lawyer will need considerable familiarity with the medicine involved. Proving medical negligence is crucial for compensation, which is why you need an experienced trial attorney from a law firm that specifically focuses on medical malpractice.
Medical Negligence Attorneys Who Fight for Your Rights
The nationally recognized legal and medical team at Janet, Janet & Suggs is known for taking on the tough cases — and winning impressive settlements. With experienced medical professionals and attorneys on staff, we are here to ease the burden of your medical malpractice case so that you and your family can focus on recovery. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your case.
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