If you’ve sustained an injury due to a medical professional’s negligent actions, you could have grounds for a medical malpractice case. Before you hire a Glastonbury medical malpractice attorney, you might be wondering how you prove medical malpractice.
This is an excellent question to ask before taking legal action, and the team at Claggett, Sykes & Garza has an answer. Generally speaking, your attorney will have to present evidence that shows your injuries and losses were caused by a medical professional’s failure to abide by the standard of care. Let’s discuss the process of proving medical malpractice further.
Steps Required to Prove Medical Malpractice
When you work with a skilled attorney, they’ll walk you through all the steps required to prove medical malpractice. They’ll take the following actions to prove your case and recover the compensation you need to deal with your injury:
Establish Duty of Care
Whenever a medical professional enters into a doctor-patient relationship, they are legally required to uphold a duty of care to that patient. That means they’re required to provide a certain standard of care or could face legal consequences.
To prove medical malpractice, your attorney must first establish that the at-fault medical professional owed you a duty of care. This can be done by presenting medical records that show you were under the doctor’s care during the time you suffered your injury.
Prove Breach of Duty
Next, your attorney must provide evidence that shows your doctor or nurse engaged in behaviors that breached the standard of care. A lawyer can work hard to find evidence of the following forms of medical negligence to show that your provider failed to uphold a reasonable standard of care:
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Surgical errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Birth injuries
- Medication errors
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Failure to treat
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Failure to diagnose cancer or other serious conditions
- Emergency room errors
- Errors in interpreting diagnostic tests
- Failure to monitor after surgery or during illness
- Inadequate follow-up or aftercare
- Incorrect or unnecessary treatment
- Nursing home neglect or abuse
If you suffered injury due to one of the above-listed forms of medical negligence, an attorney can use your medical records and other forms of evidence to prove your case. A lawyer will likely refer to other medical professionals and experts in the medical field to provide testimony stating that the at-fault doctor’s actions were not in line with the accepted standard of care.
Show Direct Causation
You won’t be able to make a financial recovery by simply proving that you suffered a preventable injury. Your attorney must show that the doctor’s negligence directly caused your condition. Otherwise, the court might suspect that you are seeking damages for a pre-existing condition that happened for a completely different reason.
Your attorney may use medical records, testimony from medical professionals who work alongside the at-fault party, and expert opinions to establish direct causation between the negligent medical professional’s actions and your injury.
Connect Damages to Injury
Finally, your lawyer must use evidence to show that the medical malpractice injuries you suffered caused you economic and non-economic losses. They can use your medical bills, income-related documents, and other forms of evidence to show that your injury caused you financial setbacks and emotional damages.
If your lawyer successfully proves medical malpractice by completing all the steps mentioned above, you could receive a variety of different damages, including the following:
- Current and future medical bills
- Cost of prescription medication and assistive devices
- Cost of physical therapy and in-home assistance
- Lost wages
- Decreased earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
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Don’t Wait to Hire a Medical Malpractice Attorney
Proving medical malpractice is a complicated process that can take a considerable amount of time to complete. Hiring an attorney soon can help you get your financial compensation ASAP and ensure that your lawsuit is filed within Connecticut’s statute of limitations.
Under Connecticut General Statute § 52-584, you have two years from the day that you sustained your medical malpractice injury to hire an attorney, prove your case, and file a lawsuit. If you don’t file before the two-year due date, you could end up losing your right to the compensation you need to pay medical bills, replace income losses, and cope with pain.
How an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help You
There are a number of other legal services an attorney can provide other than proving medical malpractice. Here’s what a lawyer can do to help you make the best of your claim and persevere through this difficult time in your life:
- Offer a free consultation to determine if you have grounds for a claim
- Investigate the medical malpractice incident(s) you experienced
- Organize and analyze relevant evidence
- Calculate how much compensation you’re owed
- File a strong claim on your behalf
- Represent you in court
- Present strong legal arguments and fight for the damages you deserve
- Offer helpful legal advice and answer any questions you have
- Offer legal services in exchange for a contingency fee
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Meet With a Trusted Medical Malpractice Lawyer for Free
At Claggett, Sykes & Garza, we understand how difficult it can be to recover from a medical malpractice injury. That’s why our team is here to offer the client-focused representation you need to win your case. Our attorneys from Glastonbury can do everything they can to prove medical malpractice and recover a settlement that meets all of your needs.
We’ve won over $100 million for our clients, who have returned the favor by giving us a number of stellar reviews. Based on our impressive track record, we’re confident we have what it takes to win your case. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with a skilled attorney from our firm.
