Whenever you step foot in a hospital or clinic, you are trusting that the medical professional treating you (or a loved one) will use their best judgment and expertise to heal you.
Regrettably, each year thousands of patients are not healed by their doctors – in fact, they’re harmed, often severely or even to the point where they lose their life.
If you or a loved one were victims of the negligent actions of a doctor responsible for your health, you need to know that you’re entitled to justice.
Victims of medical negligence often feel lost and confused without knowing who to turn for answers to common questions such as:
Our experienced medical negligence legal team has the answers to these and any other questions you may have. Contact us today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
Powerful legal options are available to victims of medical malpractice, don’t let fear stop you from taking action and achieving the compensation and justice you deserve.
Questions? We’ve got Answers
Medical malpractice and medical negligence are two terms that are interchangeably used to describe situations in which an individual doctor, nurse, or hospital staff as a whole, cause an injury to a patient.
Just any injury suffered in a hospital does not merit a valid medical malpractice lawsuit, however. The injury or trauma has to have resulted directly from the negligence of the professional medical personnel in charge of the patient’s well-being.
Additionally, omission on the part of any of the previously mentioned healthcare professionals can also constitute malpractice. This is to say that if the medical worker fails to take any actions (‘omits’ action that could have prevented injury,) then this too can be considered medical negligence.
Negligence cases can be some of the most arduous, complicated, and lengthy legal claims encountered in the civil justice system. Nevertheless, this should not stop victims from seeking justice as many patients who were wronged by their caretakers in the past have been able to fight and win against the biggest hospitals in the country.
Here are some examples of medical malpractice that can lead to lawsuits:
The brief list above contains only some of the most common acts of medical negligence that often lead to medical malpractice lawsuits.
The complex aspect of medical malpractice cases also makes the scope of the same quite broad. This means that even in instances where the victim does not believe they have grounds for a successful claim, they may in fact have a very strong case.
This is exactly why we recommend getting in touch with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as an injury occurs. By speaking with a legal professional, victims can get an accurate understanding of which legal actions are at their disposal, leaving them to make such a critical decision with as much information as possible.
The question of whether victims of medical malpractice should present a lawsuit against the negligent parties is an extremely personal one.
The average patient is likely to be unfamiliar with medical lawsuits and the civil justice system as a whole. This often means that a patient who suffered injuries at the hands of their own doctor will not take any legal action simply because they don’t know that the possibility exists.
Once informed of the legal options at their disposal and which can grant them justice and substantial compensation for the damages they suffered, victims are much more likely to consider moving ahead with a lawsuit.
Understanding this fact, the medical malpractice lawyers at The Sharma Law Firm law firm make their legal expertise available to any and all via free legal consultations.
Through a no-obligation legal case review, one of our experienced attorneys will analyze the circumstances of your case. Once they’ve understood the facts of the case and referenced the relevant legal literature (or precedent,) our team will then break down all fo the legal avenues that can be followed. Victims get a chance to ask questions in a no-pressure environment while also gaining valuable knowledge regarding the medical lawsuit process.
During the review of your case, our med mal attorneys will also ensure that an existing statute of limitations does not prevent you from filing a claim.
A statute of limitations is a law that establishes exactly how much time can pass before victims are unable to bring forth civil claims against another. In Delaware, adult patients who want to sue their doctors can not wait longer than two years from the date of the incident which caused the injury. Some exceptions to this strict limit do exist, though.
For instance, the state of Delaware deviates from the two-year limit in cases where the injury “was unknown to and could not in the exercise of reasonable diligence have been discovered.” In such a case, the patient would have as much as three years from the date the injury was caused to bring forth a lawsuit.
If you’ve been reading down to this point on our page, you’ve definitely seen us reference medical malpractice lawyers or medical negligence attorneys in the text above.
Any variation of these two terms can be used to refer to the kind of lawyer or legal professional that you generally want to seek out if you want to file suit against your doctor. More broadly, medical malpractice lawyers are personal injury attorneys.
A personal injury attorney can possess many roles but, to put it simply, they help victims of negligence fight for the compensation they deserve after suffering damages at the hands of another individual or entity.
The four D’s of medical malpractice refers to an easy way of remembering the requirements for proving medical negligence. They are as follows:
Victims of medical malpractice and their loved ones generally receive large settlements in medical negligence cases because the injuries resulting from a medical mistake can be catastrophic.
Nonetheless, it is still a poor exercise to look at past settlements or jury awards and attempt to extrapolate the value of a medical negligence case that has yet to be litigated. There are just too many factors to take into account for one to be able to provide an accurate estimate of the dollar value of a lawsuit that has not even been filed.
If you’ve still got questions regarding your case, contact our team now and take the first step on the path towards justice.