Duffy Duffy Law’s mission is to advocate for patients who are harmed by medical malpractice, negligence or personal injury. For more details contact us on 516.394.4200.
1. Duffy & Duffy
Medical Malpractice Law firm
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& Duffy Law Firm
2. The history of law can be dated back to the period
of Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. And
today, we have endless fields of laws. While traffic
rules emerged with the emergence of motor
vehicles, company laws were framed to govern the
matters relating to companies and other such
business organizations.
Medical law is one such field of law, which
governs the duties and responsibilities of medical
professionals and the rights of the patients.
3. Like other patients, you may believe you have a
medical malpractice lawsuit if your medical
practitioner makes a mistake while treating you.
This may or not be true. The reality is, there's a
lot more to a medical malpractice case than a
patient getting hurt. The key factors involve
showing or proving:
A doctor or another medical professional made
a mistake, and
You were harmed by that mistake
4. The patient who has undergone medical
complications due to the negligence of the
health care professional can sue the latter.
So, the plaintiff in a medical malpractice case
can be the patient, or any individual legally
designated to act on the behalf of the patient.
The injury experienced by the patient may
include physical injury, mental
trauma, overhead expenses and loss of ability to
work. In case the patient is no more or in case of
a wrongful death suit, the officer or executor of
the deceased person's estate can take on the
role of the petitioner.
5. The defendants in medical malpractice lawsuits
are usually health care professionals or at times,
entire institutions. Therefore, depending on the
situation and gravity of the case, hospitals,
medical corporations, pharmaceutical
companies or managed care organizations may
be defendants in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Even nurses, dentists, hospital employees,
anesthesiologists, emergency care professionals
and therapists can be sued for medical
negligence.
6. In order to prove a case of medical malpractice, the
plaintiff has to establish certain elements.
First of all, the plaintiff should prove that a legal
duty of medical care and treatment was supposed to
be undertaken by a health care officer or institution,
for treating the patient and/or plaintiff.
Secondly, the health care professional breached his
duty towards the patient. This does not mean that a
patient can sue a doctor, if the former is not happy
with the treatment.
Third point to be proved is the harm caused to the
plaintiff, due to the negligent action of the health
care provider.