When we go to a doctor’s office or a hospital for treatment, we expect to feel better when we leave. There are situations, however, when this is not the case. Physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals have a history of making mistakes. Misdiagnoses of diseases, patients neglected, and vital test results misread are all examples of errors. Individuals and families suffer the effects of harmful medical practice or medical malpractice in today’s world of giant insurance companies. When a client has been wounded due to inadequate medical practice or medical negligence, our law firm has extensive expertise in taking on doctors and hospitals. Esquire Law fights for our clients and their families with the top experts on the planet. An Esquire Law medical malpractice lawyer works hard to obtain victims and their families the compensation they deserve.
What You Need to Know About Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is described as a physician’s or other health care provider’s carelessness or failure to give the care required or accepted in the community in which he practices. When a physician fails to treat a medical problem correctly or neglects to treat a medical condition, the patient suffers a new or more significant injury due to failure or carelessness. Medical malpractice or negligence can come in many forms, including but not limited to:
- When diagnosing a condition, there is a delay or failure to act.
- A sickness or medical condition is misdiagnosed.
- Surgical blunders
- Inadequate permission for a procedure or operation
- Neglecting or failing to treat a proper diagnosis is a form of negligence.
- Errors by doctors or nurses
- Congenital disabilities or birth trauma
- Dangerous substances
- Malpractice in anesthesia
- Failure of the equipment
You or a loved one may have been the victim of medical negligence. If this is the case, you should speak with one of our Arizona medical malpractice lawyers as soon as possible. We are eager to hear your claim at our law firm, and we want to make sure you get the money you deserve. To schedule a FREE consultation, please call us at (623) 343-9956.
Why Choose Esquire Law?
A medical malpractice claim will not compensate for the harm caused by a doctor’s negligence. A lawsuit, on the other hand, may be able to pay you for some of the grief and suffering you’ve experienced. An Esquire Law medical malpractice lawyer can also help you seek compensation for future demands such as medical expenditures, lost wages, caretakers, and other variables through a court claim. By drawing attention to the negligence of a medical expert, others may be spared from suffering similar damage in the future. Call our law firm for a free consultation at (623) 343-9956 to learn more about how a malpractice lawyer can help you reach a successful resolution when a medical mistake has turned your life upside down.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
What Do I Need to File a Medical Malpractice Claim?
For various reasons, medical malpractice claims are more challenging than other types of carelessness cases. The items required at the start of an issue are one significant difference. Within 90 days of initiating a malpractice claim, someone injured by a medical error must have evidence prepared and presented to the court.
The wounded individual will require the testimony of an expert witness to show what the reasonable level of care should have been and how the caregiver failed to achieve that standard to win a medical negligence lawsuit. Evidence should indicate that the failure was a direct cause of the defendant’s harm.
This certificate requirement can be difficult to meet because it necessitates gathering and preparing expert testimony early in the proceedings. A patient should contact an Arizona medical malpractice lawyer as soon as they uncover the error for the best chance of success.
Is there a time limit in Arizona for filing a claim?
According to state legislation, a medical malpractice claim must be submitted within a certain amount of time. An experienced Arizona medical malpractice lawyer understands the limitations and can guarantee that the deadlines complete the certificate and other obligations. If the mistake was not discovered within that time, the lawsuit must be brought within one year of the date it was found or within three years of the error.
An exception is made when doctors leave a foreign object inside a patient’s body. There is no deadline for such patients; they have a year from when they learned or should have known about the object.
How Can I Tell If My Case Involved Medical Malpractice?
Because there are so many legal and medical problems, medical malpractice is tough to understand fully. This is why many people have difficulty determining whether or not they have been harmed by medical negligence. Our Arizona medical malpractice lawyers can assess your case and speak with specialists in the industry to see if the treatment you or a loved one received was proper and suitable.
What Should I Do If I Believe There Has Been Medical Malpractice?
If you believe you have been the victim of medical negligence, the first thing you should do is get medical help right away. Next, save all documentation you may have received before, during, and after your original procedure or treatment, as well as any therapy you may have had for any further injuries you may have sustained. Contacting our law firm’s compassionate and competent medical malpractice attorneys is critical. We will give you a free consultation to assess if you have a claim for medical malpractice. If your claim is reasonable and likely to succeed, we will discuss the procedures we will take to get your claim heard with you. This will entail a more thorough examination of your claim, acquiring relevant medical records, and consulting with a medical specialist.
Is it necessary to hire an expert to prove that medical malpractice happened?
In many cases, an expert witness must establish that medical negligence happened. A standard of care must be established in medical malpractice proceedings. This means that a third party, a medical expert with knowledge of medical negligence, will have to show that the expected level of care was not followed or was neglected, resulting in the patient’s harm or death. Medical malpractice attorneys recruit all expertise required for the case for your safety, the preservation of your rights, and the secrecy of the case.
What is the definition of medical malpractice?
No matter how well qualified, healthcare professionals can make preventable medical errors that cause injury, take innocent lives, and cost the US economy billions of dollars. Medical malpractice is the legal term for mistakes that should have been avoided. Physicians and other medical professionals must follow an acceptable standard of care for their profession and specialty when performing their duties. Medical malpractice happens when a medical professional acts or fails to act in a certain way, violating the established standard of care. The plaintiff must prove carelessness to win a medical malpractice action. For example, simply because a surgical operation does not produce the desired results does not mean it was performed negligently. A plaintiff must show that the medical professional’s carelessness was a direct cause of the damage to win a medical malpractice case.
The Process of Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
A medical malpractice case happens when a medical professional, such as a doctor, fails to follow the proper standard of care when giving medical care or treatment to a patient, causing the patient to be injured. To win a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff must show that all of the following are true:
- The presence of a relationship between a doctor and a patient.
- Under the circumstances, the doctor owed the plaintiff a certain level of medical attention, and the doctor broke that norm of medical care.
- The plaintiff had been hurt.
- The plaintiff’s injuries were caused or contributed to by the doctor’s negligence.
- The steps of a medical malpractice case are described in this article: consultation with an attorney, inquiry, tribunal, discovery, settlement, and trial.
Meeting with an Attorney
Meeting with a lawyer is the first step in a medical malpractice case. The injured party and their family will meet with an attorney so that the lawyer can learn all of the facts and why the injured party believes the doctor, hospital, or other healthcare professional or organization was negligent. Often, a person does not believe they have a case or is ashamed because they believe the doctor did something incorrectly. However, speaking with an expert medical malpractice attorney is crucial because, in many cases, the patient’s instincts are correct. The doctor acted carelessly, resulting in catastrophic harm.
Investigation
The importance of preparation cannot be underestimated. During the investigative phase, the attorney will examine any relevant medical records, including hospital records, doctor’s records, visiting nurse’s records, and anything else that can aid in determining what went wrong. Because they can quickly interpret medical documents, having an attorney with a medical background can be a huge help. Following gathering all relevant facts, the attorney will usually call one or more medical specialists in their disciplines. These professionals could be surgeons or professors at teaching hospitals. After that, the expert will prepare a letter supporting the wounded person’s claim. After that, the lawyer will file a lawsuit in court, and a hearing will be held.
Discovery
The stage of litigation during which the parties can gather relevant information is known as discovery, and the parties can request documents and other relevant records from one another. During discovery, the injured party will be deposed (questioned under oath) by the doctor’s attorney. The doctor will also be interviewed by the injured person’s attorney, who will mainly inquire about the doctor’s care for the patient, what went wrong, and other pertinent problems.
Settlement
A fair settlement is usually preferable to a trial because, in a settlement, the doctor has already agreed to pay the injured party a fixed amount of damages. In contrast, in a trial, the conclusion is unknown. The case will go to trial if the doctor or insurance company refuses to agree to an acceptable settlement for the injured party.
Trial
The parties offer their arguments and introduce evidence to support their positions during the trial. In addition, each side’s specialists will testify, and the jury will evaluate whether the doctor acted carelessly and caused the plaintiff’s injuries. If the jury rules favor the plaintiff, the plaintiff will undoubtedly be awarded financial damages.