Almost everybody experiences some kind of medical concerns which involves a hospital stay at some point in their lives. When it occurs, you anticipate the best possible care and treatment from the doctors and other medical professionals in the hospital. However, if mistakes are made on the part of doctors or hospital staff you and your family members might be able to sue for medical malpractice.
All states have statutes of limitations that cap the amount of time throughout which a person can file a claim using injury for medical negligence. The statute of limitations on most medical misconduct or neglect claims is two years from the date you knew or should have known that malpractice occurred. For minors, the statute of limitations doesn’t begin to run until the child reaches the age of majority. Since medical malpractice cases take time to review, it is important to contact an experienced attorney, immediately if you believe malpractice has occurred which caused a serious injury or wrongful death.
When you have been injured by a medical care professional, there are certain things that will need to be proven to support your claim. This requires a thorough investigating attorney to look into the facts in order to get to the root cause of your injury. A relationship between doctor and client will need to be proven, proof that the staff or doctor was negligent will need to be collected.
Types of Medical Malpractice Claims
Following are common types of medical malpractice claims:
- Anesthesia errors
- Trauma or birth injuries
- Emergency room errors
- Hospital malpractice
- Surgical errors
- Medical device errors
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Postoperative negligence
As mentioned above, a wide variety of situations can lead to a medical misconduct claim. Sometimes the cases are a result of a doctor’s actions or inactions, such as:
Failure to diagnose– if a proficient doctor would have found the patient’s disease or made a changed diagnosis, which in turn lead to a better result than the one actually attained, then the patient might have a possible medical negligence claim.
Improper Treatment- if a health care provider treats the patient in a manner no other skilled doctor would, the patient might have a medical malpractice claim.
Failure to notify a patient about identified risk- Healthcare providers have an obligation to inform their patients about known risks of a medical process and it is recognized as the duty to informed consent. If a patient once suitably informed would have chosen to go through the procedure, the doctor might not be accountable for medical malpractice.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.