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New Jersey Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Duty of Care
Doctors, surgeons, and hospitals are under a duty to act in accordance with accepted medical standards and techniques. When there is a departure from the accepted standards applicable to the particular case, this is called medical malpractice. In order to recover damages for medical malpractice, it must be shown that the medical error or mistake was a proximate cause of the injury or damage complained of by the patient.
There are times when a person does not know they are a victim of medical malpractice until some point in the future when the condition they were complaining about worsens or reappears. This is especially true in “failure to diagnose” cases. For example, when a doctor fails to diagnose cancer when it should have been reasonably discoverable, this error causes the patient to delay in getting the immediate and necessary care he or she needs may lead to a progression of the cancer which would not have otherwise occurred.
Other times, the patient knows that they did not get a good result from a surgical or medical procedure and may suspect that something went wrong. It is always best in this situation never to make assumptions and to speak to an experienced New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer to evaluate your claim. Merely because a patient has a bad result from a medical or surgical procedure does not automatically mean that there was medical malpractice. An evaluation by the lawyer with a medical expert can help to determine whether there was a medical mistake or error that caused the injury.
Hospital Errors
It has been estimated that as many as 100,000 people die every year because of preventable hospital errors or mistakes. In addition, an operation is performed on the wrong patient or body part as much as 40 times a week. Approximately 28,000 die each year due to avoidable infections caused by the insertion of a central line. These infections may be prevented by such simple measures as washing hands, wearing caps, gowns, and masks, and placing the line away from the genital area where infections are known to be more common.
The human toll caused by preventable medical errors is too high and unacceptable. Not enough is being done to implement some very simple and known preventive measures to limit mistakes.
When a New Jersey hospital makes a mistake that causes damage to the patient, the patient has a right to seek redress in a civil claim for the damages they incurred. These damages may include past and future pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost income.
It has been estimated that as many as 100,000 people die every year because of a preventable hospital error or mistake.
DiMartini Obtains a $900,000.00 Settlement for a Victim of a Gallbladder Surgery Error
Doctor’s Mistakes
While many do not like to admit it, doctors do make mistakes. One of the reasons for this may be the years of training they are forced to undergo. They work very hard and have people’s lives in their hands. Some are rightly considered specialists within their field of medicine, those to whom other doctors turn their patients for consultation. They are trying to save lives and not destroy them. Yet, as with everything else, people are known to err. The same is true for doctors and surgeons.
When a doctor makes a mistake or commits malpractice, the patient he was trying to aid is now worse off and may be facing lifelong debilitating injuries as a result. The chance to save the patient or mitigate the illness may be lost forever. The once doctor-patient relationship is then turned into an adversarial one. The injured patient is forced to seek redress through the legal system to help ease the financial burdens they must now endure.
Forms of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice can take many forms. There may be an error during a surgical procedure that causes a vital organ to be misidentified and insulted or a failure to diagnose a condition or illness. It has been suggested that there are four basic categories of medical mistakes, each with its own subset of mistakes. They are as follows:
Diagnostic
- Error or delay in diagnosis
- Failure to employ indicated tests
- Use of outmoded tests or therapy
- Failure to act on results of monitoring or testing
Treatment
- Error in the performance of an operation, procedure, or test
- Error in administering the treatment
- Error in the dose or method of using a drug
- Avoidable delay in treatment or in responding to an abnormal test
- Inappropriate (not indicated) care
Preventive
- Failure to provide prophylactic treatment
- Inadequate monitoring or follow-up of treatment
Other
- Failure of communication
- Equipment failure
- Other system failure
Health Care Controversy
Aside from ego, doctors are more likely to defend a medical malpractice claim because of the pressure asserted upon them by the medical lobby and insurance
carriers. Instead of agreeing when an obvious mistake has been revealed, their lawyers and insurance carriers assert convoluted theories to try to confuse the juries and defeat the claim. They attempt to sway public opinion to believe that all medical malpractice cases are frivolous and the cause of the “health care crises.” They lobby for caps on non-economic damages caused by their very mistakes.
It is not until someone is the victim of medical malpractice that the glaring truth is brought to light. No other group in our country is entitled to special privileges in the event they injure someone through an act of negligence. Why should it be any different when a does hurt a patient because of an act of carelessness?
When it has been estimated that the cost associated with preventable medical errors is three billion dollars a year, it may be argued the more effective way to control rising medical costs would be to implement and develop better prevention practices to minimize injuries before they occur rather than to point to medical malpractice as the culprit and place the burden on the injured patient. If this were the case the savings would be two-fold because there would be no medical cost associated with an injury that never happened and no medical malpractice case to contend with. This idea is nothing new and has been put forth over a decade ago in TO ERR IS HUMAN: BUILDING A SAFER HEALTH SYSTEM.
It is not until someone is the victim of medical malpractice that the glaring truth is brought to light.
New Jersey Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you believe you or your loved one was injured due to the medical malpractice of a New Jersey doctor, surgeon, or hospital, you are forced to endure a traumatic and difficult time. You are confronted with further medical procedures, medical expenses, and possible lost income. Moreover, it is unlikely that the doctor admitted the mistake to you. You are unsure what really took place. All you know is that things did not turn out as you hoped and are now the worse off for it. You have questions and are looking for answers. We are here to help!
For decades, Mr. DiMartini has aided people injured because of medical malpractice. He is a New Jersey native and has lived virtually his entire life in New Jersey. He knows New Jersey and he knows the law. He is here to fight for your rights.
New Jersey Medical Malpractice Attorneys
