Once you establish a doctor-patient relationship with a medical professional, you have a right to expect that professional to use their skill, knowledge, and on-the-job experience to ensure you get the right treatment for your specific medical concerns. If a doctor fails to meet this standard of care and causes a patient to suffer avoidable harm as a result, that doctor may be civilly liable for ensuing losses experienced by that patient.
However, as any knowledgeable personal injury attorney could tell you, successfully filing suit over medical malpractice can be challenging. If you want to ensure your claim against a negligent doctor, nurse, or healthcare facility goes as smoothly as possible, hiring and working closely with an Aventura medical malpractice lawyer is a necessity. Please note that not all personal injury lawyers handle or are skilled enough to handle Medical Malpractice claims. There is only a very small subset of attorneys who are proficient in Medical Malpractice claims. Thankfully, Kaire & Heffernan is in that category.
The standard of care applies specifically to medical professionals, and as an Aventura medical negligence attorney could further explain, it is different from the duty of care that plays into most other types of personal injury claims built around a theory of negligence. Doctors are expected to meet a standard of care based specifically on what another equally qualified doctor would have done under the circumstances.
This gives medical professionals some legal leeway for minor mistakes that most other people would not be afforded if they inadvertently caused another person harm. Furthermore, state law requires prospective malpractice plaintiffs to have formal support for their claim from at least one qualified medical expert in the form of an affidavit of merit.
Another possible legal obstacle to recovery during a medical malpractice lawsuit is the statute of limitations, which is the deadline set by state law for how long someone has to sue over a personal injury. Most of the time, people injured through a doctor’s malpractice have a maximum of two years from when they knew or should have known of the malpractice, but never more than four years from when that malpractice occurred to file suit.
On top of that, prospective malpractice plaintiffs must formally notify in writing the doctor or facility they intend to name as a defendant in their claim before filing suit against them. Once this notice of intent has been served, there is a legally mandated series of events known as Pre-Suit that can last up to 90 days. It is virtually impossible to navigate this process alone and is something that a medical malpractice lawyer in Aventura will navigate.
Negligence by a doctor who you should be able to trust with your wellbeing can be devastating and infuriating in equal measure. As much as possible, it is important to be proactive about enforcing your legal rights after being harmed in this way, both to ensure you comply with state-mandated filing deadlines and to improve your chances of finding and preserving important evidence before it is lost, altered, or destroyed.
An Aventura medical malpractice lawyer could provide the custom-tailored guidance you need to achieve the favorable case result you want. Call today to learn more.
(305) 876-6001