Orange, NJ Medical Malpractice Attorney
Medical malpractice is a field of law dealing with patients and their claims against medical practitioners – doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc. These claims usually center around a misdiagnosis, a surgical mistake, a medication error, or some other mistake in the patient’s care that led to worse health outcomes.
Our Orange, NJ medical malpractice attorneys help victims seek compensation from the at-fault doctors, hospitals, and other care providers responsible for your injuries. Filing a claim against a doctor can be difficult, so it is always best to work with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
For a free case review, call our Orange medical malpractice attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm today. You can reach us at (718) 841-0083.
Types of Medical Malpractice Claims in Orange, NJ
If you were injured because of negligent medical care, you could be entitled to sue your physician or healthcare provider for your injuries. However, identifying your specific injury is often difficult if you are not a medical expert yourself. If you suspect injury, speak with our Orange medical malpractice lawyers and consider seeking a second opinion from another doctor.
The following are some of the most common types of medical malpractice cases that occur. Some types are based on the harm that results while others are based on the mistakes that the doctor makes.
Misdiagnosis
If a doctor makes a mistake in identifying the issue a patient is facing, they cannot properly treat the condition. Misdiagnoses often occur because the doctor made a mistake in testing or failed to investigate certain symptoms to arrive at the correct diagnosis.
When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition, the condition often goes untreated. In some cases, the patient might even receive additional treatments for the wrong condition, potentially causing additional harm. Especially when you are given aggressive treatments like chemotherapy or radiation therapy, you could end up facing a lot of harm from misdiagnosis.
Surgical Errors
Mistakes that happen in the operating room often leave patients with longer recovery times or injuries that need additional surgery or medical intervention. If a doctor nicks a vein during a procedure, the patient could face extensive bleeding. Nicking a nerve can lead to other serious injuries that cause them pain and suffering and require additional treatment.
Sometimes, surgical errors go unnoticed, with patients suffering for a prolonged period. Doctors might not have realized their mistakes and instead assured the patient the effects are just a “normal part” of the recovery process. In some cases, the doctor is aware of their mistakes and intentionally hides the harm.
Foreign Objects Left in the Body (E.g., Surgical Sponges)
When a medical team begins surgery, they should have a proper count of all of the tools and sponges they will be using. At the end of surgery when the operation site is closed, the team should be sure that the count matches.
Accidentally leaving a sponge – or worse, a scalpel or other tool – inside of a patient is typically considered malpractice. These items often go undiscovered until the patient presents with an infection, serious discomfort, or other illness down the road. In many cases, there are additional rules surrounding these cases.
Suing for Medical Malpractice in Orange, NJ
If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you could be entitled to damages for the increased medical care costs, the pain and suffering, and the other economic effects on your life. However, getting these damages is often complex. You should always seek help with your lawsuit from one of our experienced Orange, NJ medical malpractice lawyers.
Elements of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
To win a lawsuit for medical malpractice, you need to prove four elements.
First, you must show that the defendant (typically a doctor or hospital) owed the patient a “duty of care.” In the medical field, the duty in question is typically the doctor’s duty to provide adequate medical care in accordance with the “standard of care” that any other reasonable doctor in their situation would follow. This is a complex concept, and court battles over what the standard of care entails in a particular case are often at the core of many medical malpractice lawsuits.
Second, you must prove that the defendant breached their duty. A breach could come from a doctor knowing what the standard of care is and intentionally deviating from it, or from a doctor failing to use the proper care and skill to meet the requirements of the standard of care.
After that, you must prove two more elements: that the breach of duty in fact caused the victim’s injuries and that the injuries include damages that can be compensated in court. These damages can include intangible harms like lost quality of life or pain and suffering as well as economic harms like additional medical bills.
Evidence of Medical Malpractice
To prove these elements, you and your Orange medical malpractice lawyers will need evidence. Your medical records and testimony from the medical personnel involved in your care will be important evidence of what happened. Similarly, your own testimony about your experience will help inform the court about the timeline of your care and when the mistakes happened. However, you are unlikely (unless you are a doctor) to have the medical qualifications to say with certainty whether the doctor’s care followed the standard of care or not.
Because of this, an “expert witness” is usually essential. Your attorney will need to have a doctor review the facts of the case to provide an expert opinion on whether or not the defendant’s care fell below the standard of care or not. This doctor will typically be an experienced doctor in the same area of practice as the doctor that caused your injuries. The defendant will also use their own experts, and the facts are left to the jury to decide.
Call Our Orange Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today
For a free case evaluation, contact the Orange medical malpractice lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm. Call us at (718) 841-0083.