Introduction To Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

If you were injured due to medical malpractice, then a lawsuit might be your best course of action. However, planning out and executing a lawsuit is no small feat, so you want to do all your research before you proceed. To help you get a better idea of what a lawsuit will be like, here are some of the most important facets to consider:   

How can medical malpractice lead to a personal injury lawsuit?

Medical malpractice can be quite a bit harder to prove than other types of personal injuries since you will need to meet an extremely specific bar: the standard of care. You will need to prove that your healthcare provider violated the standard of care, and you will further need to prove that their violation directly led to your injury.

The standard of care is a somewhat abstract concept since it really refers to how the average healthcare provider would treat a patient like you in the area that you were treated. In other words, did you provider act the way that they should have?

Proving this will normally involve expert testimony from another healthcare provider with a similar role. They will testify how they would respond to a situation like yours and contrast that with how the provider did respond and how that led to your injury. This may result in you paying extra fees for the services of an expert witness, but it can be worth it if it ends up winning your case.

What is the statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit?

The statute of limitations is normally a pretty clear concept, giving you a certain number of years to file a lawsuit after an injury. However, medical malpractice can often result in injuries that don't appear for several years after. Furthermore, some cases involve providers fraudulently misleading their patients about the state of their health to cover up wrongdoing, which can delay discovery even more.

To handle this, many states will allow you to file relative to the initial date of the injury or relative to the date of discovery if there was no reasonable way for you to discover your injuries before then. Some states are fairly strict, though, banning all lawsuits after a certain number of years have passed. This can help protect providers from some frivolous lawsuits, but it can also prevent you from getting the compensation that you deserve.

For further assistance, contact local professionals, such as those from R.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C.

Share