Healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, and physical therapists, owe their patients an extremely high duty of care at all times. If they make a mistake that leads to an injury, illness, or other medical complication, the patient can assert a claim against them and indirectly against their insurance company for medical negligence or malpractice.
In a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit, there is no such thing as an average payout or settlement. Instead, the amount of monetary compensation that a patient receives will depend on the extent of their medical complications and whether or not they need to have additional treatment to correct the situation.
If you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence or malpractice, you should take prompt legal action right away. Waiting too long to seek out legal counsel to represent you in your case can have devastating consequences. Specifically, it may jeopardize your right to recover the monetary compensation you need and deserve for your malpractice-related medical complications.
An experienced Bronx medical malpractice attorney can first review your circumstances with you and determine if you are eligible to bring a claim for medical malpractice or negligence against a particular healthcare provider. If you are eligible, your attorney can assist you with every step of the legal process and can provide you with a ballpark of your claim's overall value, depending on what actually occurred.
Your lawyer can also help you during the settlement negotiation and litigation stages of your case and represent you in all legal courtroom proceedings. Throughout the process, your lawyer will do everything they can to maximize the total monetary damages you receive in your medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.
Which Types of Healthcare Providers May be Subject to a Medical Malpractice Claim or Lawsuit?
When medical providers deviate from the established standard of care, and a medical complication occurs, both they and their insurance companies may be liable for the resulting damages to patients.
Several categories of medical providers may be susceptible to a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit. Those providers include treating medical doctors, primary care physicians, nurses, mental health care providers, physical therapists, and specialists.
If you think you may be a victim of medical malpractice, a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney in your area can review your circumstances with you and, if appropriate, help you take the necessary legal steps in your case. Your lawyer can help you file a claim or a lawsuit in the court system, negotiate with insurance company representatives, and pursue the total monetary compensation you need.
Proving a Medical Malpractice Claim
Proving a claim for medical malpractice or negligence is often an uphill battle. Medical providers' insurance companies will look for any reason to try and deny a claim or at least pay out as little monetary compensation as possible to the injured patient. After all, insurance companies only make money by collecting premium payments from insured healthcare providers. They can lose significant money if they have to pay out a sizable medical malpractice settlement or jury verdict to an injured patient. Therefore, insurance companies have the incentive to offer injured patients as little monetary compensation as possible to satisfy their claims.
A patient can file a medical malpractice claim if a licensed medical provider committed one or more acts of negligence, breached a contract, committed an act of misconduct, or made an omission or error while providing a health-related service.
In addition to individual medical providers being responsible for negligence and malpractice, entire facilities including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospice care centers, and free clinics are sometimes liable.
To prove that medical malpractice occurred in your case, you must establish several legal elements. First, you must show that a medical provider or facility failed to act reasonably and prudently. To prove this legal element, you must introduce medical testimony, such as from an expert medical provider.
Moreover, to satisfy this legal element successfully, you must demonstrate that the medical provider in your case failed to act with the necessary degree of skill, learning, and experience that a hypothetical reasonable medical provider should have exercised under the same or similar circumstances.
In addition to establishing that a medical provider behaved negligently, you must show that this deviation from the standard of care was both the actual and the foreseeable cause of your injury, illness, or other medical complication.
A medical malpractice lawyer can help you establish these legal elements successfully and help you recover the total amount of monetary damages you need for your medical complications.
Filing a Timely Medical Malpractice Claim or Lawsuit in Your Case
Like all other types of cases, medical malpractice cases follow a statute of limitations. This statute provides a deadline by which an injured patient must file a claim or lawsuit for medical negligence against a provider.
If the patient fails to file their lawsuit within this timeframe, the court will not allow them to recover any monetary compensation or damages for their adverse medical complications.
The purpose of the statute of limitations is straightforward in that it helps to keep memories fresh and ensure credible evidence in the case. It also helps to ensure that critical witnesses in the case remain available should the matter proceed to a civil jury trial in the court system.
In New York, a patient has to bring their medical malpractice claim within two years and six months of the day when the malpractice allegedly occurred. The time clock on the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases does not begin running until you discover or reasonably should have discovered the injury, illness, or medical complication arising from your provider's negligence.
A medical malpractice attorney in your case can file your lawsuit in a timely manner and help you maximize the monetary damages you need to recover for your medical complications.
Retaining a Medical Expert to Testify in Your Medical Malpractice Case
When it comes to medical malpractice and negligence cases, expert testimony is vital. When your lawyer retains a medical expert to testify in your case, that expert is typically a medical provider who practices in the same area of medicine as your treating healthcare provider (like the one who made the medical mistake).
If your medical malpractice case ultimately goes to trial, your expert can take the witness stand and explain how your treating healthcare provider likely deviated from the prevailing standard of care, resulting in your medical complication(s).
Expert medical providers are also necessary at the beginning of the case since you must file an expert certificate within 90 days of filing your medical malpractice lawsuit.
In that certificate, you must state that an experienced medical malpractice attorney has reviewed all of the case facts, that your attorney has spoken with a minimum of one medical expert regarding the circumstances of your case, and that the medical expert, based on a comprehensive review and consultation with your attorney, has deemed the medical negligence claim meritorious and determined that it should go to court for further adjudication.
Recovering Monetary Damages in a Medical Malpractice Claim or Lawsuit
The primary purpose of filing a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit is to recover monetary damages for your medical complications and other losses. Patients who can establish the legal elements of their claim through expert medical testimony may be eligible to recover these damages. However, the damages a patient receives will vary from case to case and depend on different factors.
Some factors that influence the types and amounts of monetary damages that an injured patient may recover in a medical malpractice case include:
- The specific medical complications the injured patient suffered
- The length of time it takes for the patient to recover fully from their medical complications
- Whether the patient needs to undergo a future medical procedure, such as surgery or additional physical therapy, to correct their healthcare provider's mistake
- The anticipated costs associated with future medical care or treatment
- Whether the patient's medical complications that result from malpractice are permanent, meaning that the patient is unlikely to recover fully
- The total amount of pain, suffering, and inconvenience that a patient endures as a result of their medical provider's mistake
First, victims of medical malpractice may be eligible to recover various compensatory damages. The purpose of these damages is to put injured patients back in the position they would have been in had the incident of medical malpractice not occurred.
Possible compensatory damages in a medical negligence claim may include compensation for all related medical bills, prescription costs, nursing costs, physical therapy expenses, and lost earnings if the patient cannot work after the incident of malpractice.
In addition to these economic damages, victims of medical malpractice can also recover various monetary damages for their intangible losses. These damages, called non-economic damages, compensate injured patients for future medical expenses, future loss of earnings, loss of spousal consortium and companionship, past and future pain and suffering, and loss of life enjoyment.
In addition to these monetary damages, victims of medical malpractice can also receive punitive damages if the negligent medical provider acted in a particularly egregious, reckless, or dishonest manner under the circumstances. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the offending medical provider in the case and to discourage others from committing similar wrongful acts.
A skilled medical malpractice lawyer near you can explain all of your legal options to you and help you decide on the best course of action for your case. Once your case is moving forward, your lawyer will do everything they can to help you recover maximum monetary damages for your medical complications.
Will My Medical Malpractice Case Go to Court?
The majority of medical malpractice cases resolve at some point out of court. Most cases settle because litigation costs including the costs associated with retaining experts – can be extremely high for both parties to the case.
Your medical malpractice lawyer can handle all settlement negotiations and communications with the medical provider’s insurance carrier on your behalf.
If your case must proceed forward in the court system, your lawyer can:
- File a lawsuit on your behalf
- Help you answer written Interrogatories during the discovery stage of litigation
- Prepare you to testify at a discovery deposition
- Attend all court-imposed settlement conferences with you
- Represent you at a civil jury trial or arbitration proceeding in your case
Talk With an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney Near You Today
If you believe that you are a victim of medical malpractice, you should take legal action right away to pursue the full monetary recovery you need. Given the relatively short statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases, time is of the essence.
As soon as you retain an experienced personal injury law firm in Bronx to represent you, they can enter an appearance in your case and begin pursuing the monetary recovery you deserve.
First, your attorney can file a medical malpractice claim with the at-fault medical provider's insurance company on your behalf and begin negotiating fair settlement compensation for you.
If the insurance company does not offer you fair damages, your lawyer can pursue litigation in the court system and handle this complex process. Your lawyer can continue settlement negotiations during litigation, and your case will only go to trial if the insurer still refuses to settle fairly.
At a jury trial, the jury will decide the outcome of all issues in dispute, including the amount of monetary compensation to award you for your medical complications. At a binding arbitration hearing, on the other hand, a neutral arbitrator in your case will decide the issue of monetary damages.
Your attorney can represent you at all legal proceedings along the way, answer all of your questions, and help you make informed and intelligent decisions at every stage of your medical malpractice case. Your lawyer can also aggressively advocate for you, both during settlement negotiations and litigation, to advance your interests and pursue a full monetary recovery in your case.
