What You Need To Know About Medical Malpractice
If you suspect medical malpractice caused you a serious injury, contact the legal firm of Cohen and Cohen, P.C. for a free consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer Baltimore MD offers. Our attorneys have helped many injury victims who were in need of a medical malpractice lawyer in Baltimore MD. Medical malpractice suits are almost always complex, but they may be the only way to recover substantial damages from a negligent medical professional.
Sadly, medical negligence is the third highest cause of death in the United States, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. In fact, insurance companies spent more than $3 billion in 2012 on claims from medical malpractice. That averaged one payout for every 43 minutes throughout the year. The attorneys at Cohen and Cohen, P.C. understand that it could be imperative for medical malpractice victims to obtain fair compensation.
What is medical malpractice?
This is a situation when a medical care provider (which can mean a doctor, nurse, or even a lab technician) does not provide the “standard of care” for a patient that is expected. By not fulfilling their duty to provide that acceptable level of care, the practitioner may be deemed negligent. There are many legal requirements that must be met. It’s advisable to have your case reviewed by a medical malpractice lawyer Baltimore MD victims have hired with good results.
How is a medical malpractice case determined?
If a medical care provider causes an injury to a patient due to negligence, the case may qualify as medical malpractice. Every situation is unique, however, and may be best judged by a medical malpractice lawyer Baltimore MD residents recommend. It’s important to keep in mind that an unsuccessful surgery or treatment does not automatically qualify as medical malpractice. For example:
- A surgery to remove cancerous tissue may not be successful, in that it wasn’t possible to safely remove it all or else the surgeon may not have located it all. As a consequence, the patient might eventually die from cancer. In this scenario, it’s doubtful that medical malpractice occurred because cancerous cells can be difficult to detect.
- Using that same scenario, if the surgeon left a surgical tool inside the patient’s body and the patient died from infection as a result, the surgeon may be found liable because he was negligent in not removing the tool.
Is an apology enough?
Sometimes a hospital or medical practitioner will admit that their mistake resulted in harm to the patient. With the admission of guilt, they will offer an apology. Their insurance company may or may not offer a settlement to the patient in “payment” for their mistake. If this is their approach, it will likely happen very soon after the injury occurs, and possibly even before the extent of the injury is known. They may try to do this before the injured patient can hire a medical malpractice lawyer Baltimore MD provides. If the patient agrees to the settlement, and then later realizes their injury is more serious than they thought, they have very little legal recourse.
An experienced Baltimore medical malpractice lawyer is very familiar with this tactic of some insurance companies. It’s one reason why the attorneys of Cohen and Cohen, P.C. offer a free initial consultation. We believe in allowing personal injury victims to make informed decisions by providing an honest assessment of their case.
You Have Rights
Victims of medical malpractice can face a lifetime of pain or discomfort. Medical costs for treatment or additional surgeries can escalate into the many thousands of dollars very quickly. Recovery time from additional surgeries on top of the original surgery can force a person to take much more time off from work than originally anticipated.
Talk to a legal professional who has your best interests in mind. Call us today at Cohen and Cohen, P.C. for a free consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer Baltimore MD victims have turned to for years.