Mal Practice
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have a duty to adhere to accepted standards of care and failure to do so can result in patient harm. Breaching this duty is known as mal practice and victims of mal practice have the legal right to hold the negligent party(s) responsible for damages such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Financial losses related to the injury, including medical costs and lost wages
- Loss of companionship or support (when mal practice results in death)
The Importance of an Experienced Attorney
Mal practice cases are especially complicated. Lawyers for the injured party (plaintiff) must prove that negligence occurred and that the negligence caused the patient to suffer damages. This requires extensive legal and medical research, as well as a great amount of financial resources. Given the complexity of mal practice cases, it’s crucial that victims seek the help of an experienced medical attorney.
A medical mal practice attorney can evaluate a claim and determine whether a lawsuit is a viable option. For a mal practice lawsuit to be viable, for instance, it must fall within the relevant statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a time restriction for filing a mal practice lawsuit. Every state has its own statute of limitations, but most range from one to three years from the time the injury occurred or was discovered. It is crucial that those with mal practice cases file their claims before the time limit passes. An experienced mal practice attorney can inform you of the relevant statute in your state.
Medical Errors and Mal Practice Cases
Every year in the United States, medical errors cause up to 98,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries. Despite these numbers, mal practice cases are not as prevalent as popular notions would make it seem. This is due to the fact that mal practice cases, as stated previously, are complex and expensive to litigate. However, it is the right of individuals who have been harmed by medical errors to pursue a legal remedy for their losses.
Mal practice cases most frequently involve:
- Lab mistakes
- Surgical errors, including anesthesia errors
- Misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis
- Mistakes that result in birth injuries such as cerebral palsy and brachial plexus palsy
- Medication errors
Medical errors may be made by physicians, lab technicians, nurses, physician assistants, anesthesiologists and other medical staff.
Contact Us about Mal Practice
If you think you have a mal practice case, contact Burke & Eisner today. We’ll evaluate your claim free of charge and answer questions you have regarding your options.
Three ways to Contact Us:
-- Fill out the Contact Us form in the Upper Right part of this page.
-- Use the Contact Us form located on the Instant Answer Page
-- Call us: 1-800-838-0800
See Also:
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