In order for your medical malpractice lawsuit to be considered valid in a court of law, there must be someone that can be considered liable for your illness or injury. In other words, someone else's negligent actions must be the cause of your injury. Negligence occurs in several different ways. A health care provider may fail to properly treat an illness or injury by misdiagnosing the patient's condition. A health care provider may also negligently perform a procedure, surgery, or make prescription errors. Finally, a health care provider may not have received informed consent form a patient before performing a procedure, surgery, or prescribing a medication. These types of errors are not only negligent, but have the potential to be even more damaging to the patient.
Negligence is determined when a health care provider's actions cause a patient injury or when the health care provider failed to take action in order to properly treat a patient. Action and non-action can be grounds for a health care provider to be found negligent.
Once you have established that a health care provider's negligent actions are the cause of your injury, you are entitled to seek damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. These damages may range from compensation for lost wages and medical bills to compensation for your pain and suffering throughout the process of recovery. Not only may you seek damages for losses that you have already experienced, but you may also seek damages for future losses such as future medical bills and future lost wages. The dollar amount of damages that you may seek is going to depend on how drastically your life was affected by your injury. The more drastically your life was affected, the higher the dollar amount you may be eligible to receive in compensation for your injuries.
Lastly, it is important to remember that there is a time limit, or statute of limitations, for you to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. For this reason, it is imperative that you consult an attorney as soon as possible if you believe that you are a victim of medical malpractice. The statute of limitations is different depending on which state you live in, but the most common time period allowed is around two years. This time period begins as soon as the victim becomes aware of the negligence, but may be affected by several other factors. Contact an attorney to discuss your specific claim and find out if you are still eligible to file a lawsuit against negligent health care providers.
