When you’re sick and go to the hospital or your doctor’s office, you expect them to take excellent care of you and treat your illness as thoroughly as possible. However, dire mistakes can happen and drastically change your life. You need a medical malpractice lawyer to advocate for you and hold the appropriate parties responsible for their negligence.
Dealing with the fallout from inadequate medical care takes a serious toll both physically and emotionally. Esquire Law is here to facilitate the process and help you seek appropriate compensation for your suffering. Let our medical malpractice attorneys fight for you during this difficult time.
What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?
Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit hinges on the idea that your health suffers because a doctor or other healthcare professional fails to provide adequate care. Medical malpractice claims must show a provider is medically negligent in their treatment plan and this leads to a decline in their patient’s health. The primary question surrounding a medical malpractice suit is, “Would another provider act similarly in this situation or give more reasonable care?”
A failure to diagnose a patient properly is one common form of medical negligence. For example, say you feel a lump beneath your skin and your primary care physician insists that it’s only fatty tissue and not concerning. If the lump grows and ends up being a cancerous mass, it’s worth assessing if your doctor did everything possible to rule out cancer or if they were negligent with your care.
It’s not just doctors that can be the subject of a medical malpractice suit. Other professionals can mishandle your care and cause consequences including:
- Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Dentists
Let our medical malpractice lawyers overview all evidence in your favor and build a strong case against a negligent healthcare provider.
Three Prevalent Types of Medical Malpractice
Consult a medical malpractice lawyer if you believe you have a case and they’ll tell you there are three different types of medical malpractice. Each of these scenarios violates what it means to provide proper medical care and can have significant effects on the patient. Discover the common types of medical malpractice suits we handle at Esquire Law.
Improper Diagnosis
If your doctor dismisses a skin lump and it turns out to be cancer, not only do they fail to diagnose the condition but they likely handle the situation differently than other doctors would. Ordering diagnostic tests is a simple way to confirm the patient’s condition so they can start receiving proper treatment. An incorrect diagnosis often leads to a decline in health.
Inadequate Care
Malpractice attorneys evaluate if healthcare professionals do enough to provide proper care and treatment plans. Others in the profession may recommend a more effective treatment plan which could prove negligence on the part of your provider.
No Duty to Warn
Before undergoing a procedure, a doctor must warn patients of all the risks and potential outcomes. Patients who consent without full knowledge of the risks may end up with a compromised quality of life and sue the doctor for it.
How to Prove Medical Malpractice
Building a strong case can help you win a medical malpractice lawsuit, but what evidence do you need? Experienced medical malpractice lawyers oversee cases where the clients can prove they have a relationship with their doctor and trust them with their care. Once you establish the relationship, evidence must show the doctor acts carelessly with their treatment plan and you endure injuries or worsened conditions because of this treatment plan.
Being unhappy with your quality of care isn’t enough to prove medical malpractice. Our attorneys will need the following pieces of evidence to build a compelling case.
Proof of Doctor-Patient Relationship
Your doctor must take you on as a patient in a clinical setting. If you have a friend who’s a doctor and turn to them for medical advice, you can’t sue for malpractice unless you can establish a professional doctor-patient relationship. Your doctor should retain confidential information about your health history and document the treatments they recommend.
Careless Treatment From Doctor
You need sufficient evidence showing your doctor is medically negligent with their course of treatment. This could involve receiving an improper diagnosis or hearing from
other providers that they would act differently when treating you. Negligent actions also include a failure to warn you about the possible outcomes of a procedure before you consent.
Injuries Caused by Negligence
With the help of a professional medical malpractice lawyer, you can prove that a healthcare provider’s negligence directly causes injuries or worsening conditions. How exactly do you prove this if you already have health concerns? Every case differs, but some patients suffer adverse effects because of medical negligence.
Say your doctor suspects you have diabetes given recent symptoms and your health history. They order blood tests to screen for the disease but the lab mislabels your sample as another patient’s. This critical error could cause the wrong patient to receive a diabetes diagnosis and treatment while your health suffers because you aren’t receiving the appropriate treatment for your condition.
The surviving loved ones of a patient who dies because of medical negligence can also sue the provider for wrongful death. This scenario is on the extreme end of the malpractice spectrum and showcases the highest level of harm that medical negligence can cause.
You Suffered Measurable Injuries
Attorneys argue for victims of medical malpractice to receive financial compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. Extensive injuries can cost you wages because of missing work as well as medical bills for your ongoing treatment. These monetary damages are quantifiable and tend to cost more when patients suffer extreme injuries.
Your lawyer can also argue that you’re entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering because of medical negligence. The emotional toll of poor health and reduced quality of life should be reflected in a winning case’s payout. Your attorney will gather evidence and use your claims to argue for a set amount of non-economic damages.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Arizona?
If you decide to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Arizona, you must follow the statute of limitations. Our medical malpractice lawyers in Phoenix, AZ, receive a lot of questions about filing deadlines for various personal injury cases. You have two years from the date of a medically negligent appointment or procedure to file a medical malpractice claim.
Since not all medical mistakes come to light in that timeframe, victims have a one-year period to file a claim from the time they discover the error.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Utah?
Filing a lawsuit in Utah subjects you to different statutes of limitations than in Arizona. As a leading Salt Lake City medical malpractice attorney, we understand the unique state laws regarding these cases. You have two years from the date of your injury to file a claim.
Utah residents can also file a suit under the state’s statute of repose. This legislation dictates that victims have a four-year period in which they can file a claim regardless of when an injury is uncovered due to medical negligence. Our medical malpractice lawyers in Salt Lake City, UT, can explain all of your options during your free case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Before filing a lawsuit with our medical malpractice lawyers, people tend to ask a few common questions regarding the topic. Discover the answers to basic medical malpractice questions below.
What Do I Need to File a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Filing a medical malpractice claim requires you to have sufficient evidence supporting your case. Within 90 days of filing, you must present your evidence to the court and have a qualified medical professional testify that your provider failed to give reasonable care, which caused your injuries. Gathering this evidence and securing a witness to testify early on in the proceedings usually calls for the help of a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney.
How Can I Tell If My Case Involved Medical Malpractice?
You can’t fully know if your case involves medical malpractice without reviewing all of the evidence and how it pertains to malpractice litigation. A professional medical malpractice lawyer can evaluate the level of harm caused by medical care and whether you have a suitable malpractice claim.
Medical Malpractice Attorneys and Law Services in Phoenix, Tucson, and Salt Lake City
When you need a personal injury and medical malpractice attorney in Phoenix, Tucson, and Salt Lake City that residents trust, look no further than Esquire Law. We have years of experience handling medical malpractice lawsuits and do everything possible for our clients seeking compensation. Let our legal team guide you through the proceedings and litigate on your behalf against a careless healthcare professional.
You need a smart, compassionate medical malpractice lawyer on your side. Esquire Law is the ideal firm to partner with for the case. Give us a call at (801) 528-7890 to schedule a free case evaluation.