If you have been the victim of Medical Malpractice, you may be entitled to compensation under Massachusetts law. A skilled and experienced Fall River medical malpractice lawyer will have the expertise to assist you with your medical malpractice case and safeguard your rights.

Medical malpractice consists of several types of errors including treatment, surgical, and medication errors and it can be committed by different types of health care providers. The most challenging part of a medical malpractice lawsuit is proving liability.

Different contexts under which medical malpractice can occur

Surgical context

Every type of surgery comes with its own risks and these risks are usually outlined in a waiver that every patient is required to sign before a surgical procedure. Surgeons are required to take precautions to avoid surgical errors but mistakes do happen and serious injuries can result.

When a specialist negligently performs surgical procedures it’s usually because they are fatigued or inexperienced. Examples of negligence include but not limited to:

• Leaving items inside a patient before completing a surgical procedure
• Failure to inform a patient about the risks associated with the surgery
• Performing unnecessary surgical procedures
• Operating on the wrong body part
• Performing a surgical procedure that the patient did not consent to
• Prematurely discharging a patient without observing them for a period of time

 Non-surgical context

Doctors can also commit medical errors under nonsurgical contexts. Such errors include:

• Misdiagnosing a serious illness or failing to diagnose it
• Prescribing incorrect dosage
• Prescribing the wrong medication

Nurses and nursing assistants medical errors

Apart from specialists and doctors, nurses and nursing assistants may also commit medical malpractice. Some of the errors include:

• Failing to sterilize equipment or neglecting a patient resulting in infections or other types of serious conditions
• Surgical errors that result from poor communication between a doctor and the 
• Failure to dispense or administer the right medication to the patient
• Ignoring symptoms of serious conditions such as a heart attack or stroke or injury
• Mishandling a patient
• Failing to notify the doctor when  a patient’s condition warrants it

How to prove medical negligence in your case

Healthcare providers are obligated to abide by standards of medical care and if they fail to do so, they must be held accountable for their decisions. Other than holding the healthcare provider liable, you can also hold the hospital they are employed by liable.

For instance, you can hold the hospital liable for the negligent hiring of a healthcare provider. According to the law in Massachusetts, a medical facility can be legally held accountable for negligent acts committed by its employees provided those employees are acting within the scope of their jobs.

For you to prove that malpractice occurred, you need the testimony of a medical expert. For example, if you believe your surgery should have gone a different way, then a surgeon with similar qualifications and specialty can testify on your behalf to prove your claim. Below are the four conditions needed to establish medical malpractice

•  Duty of care. You must establish that there was a professional relationship between you and your healthcare provider. You can do this by showing that you engaged the services of your doctor and the doctor agreed to provide care.
• Breach of standard of care. This means that your doctor deviated from the standard of care, either by error, omission, or delay, or they do not make good use of the available resources,
• You were injured as a result of the breach. 
• Proximate cause. You have to show the relationship between the doctor’s negligence and your injuries. In other words, your injuries were a direct result of the doctor’s breach of the standard of care.

Contact a Fall River medical malpractice lawyer today to discuss your case

Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit requires legal expertise from an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Fall River. Filing a claim requires you to correspond with insurance companies and if you do not have the expertise, you may not know what to say with them. Our lawyers at Kevin P Landry Law Offices can handle this correspondence on your behalf.

Additionally, you do not need to handle all the endless paperwork involved in a medical malpractice claim. We will review and respond to all paperwork in the proper time frame. We can also evaluate your claim and determine how much compensation you deserve and consequently negotiate the best settlement amount for you. Do not hesitate to schedule a free initial consultation with us today by calling 508-676-0001.