CALL (800) 863-5312 TO SPEAK WITH MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INJURY LAWYERS IN NEW MEXICO FOR FREE
When we see a doctor, we expect to receive skilled diagnosis and treatment. We expect medical professionals to help us get better from whatever is ailing us, but in some cases, these professionals can actually negligently cause a patient’s condition to worsen.
If you or a loved one has been injured by the negligence of a medical professional, you should call an experienced New Mexico medical malpractice injury attorney from Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 today for a free consultation. If we are not able to win your case, you will not owe us anything.
WHAT IS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?
Medical malpractice lawsuits are an especially complex type of personal injury claims. Personal injury claims generally seek compensation for injuries caused by the responsible party’s negligent behavior. Most negligence cases require proof that the responsible party failed to act as a reasonable person would have in the same situation. Meanwhile, to prove your injuries were caused by medical malpractice, your lawyer will have to show that a reasonable and prudent doctor or other medical professional under similar circumstances, would have acted differently. For example, this may require proving that a reasonable doctor would have correctly diagnosed the patient, would have provided alternative treatment, or otherwise would have acted differently.
If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you should hire an experienced New Mexico medical malpractice injury attorney. Your lawyer may be able to help you gather evidence to support your claim and seek the maximum amount of compensation that you may be entitled to. Any documentation of your injury such as medical records, receipts or invoices, photos before and after the injury occurred if the damage is visibly evident, and any emails or letters to and from your medical provider regarding your injury may help your attorney build your case.
To support your medical malpractice claim, you must typically be able to prove:
- The physician or other medical care provider had a duty to safely and appropriately diagnose and treat you.
- There was a breach of duty on the medical care provider’s part, and he or she behaved irresponsibly or negligently.
- The medical care provider’s negligence injured the patient.
- The victim suffered physical injuries or damages.
WHAT MAY BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?
Medical malpractice may include any action or inaction by the medical professional that a reasonable medical professional with similar training and in a similar situation, would not have exhibited. This malpractice could include various examples of negligent behavior, such as:
Lack of Communication
The medical professional failed to communicate necessary details about your diagnosis or the necessary treatment in a manner that accurately reflected your condition. A doctor who is in a hurry may fail to properly explain the result of an exam or test, leading you to accept or decline treatment based on incomplete or inaccurate information.
Negligent Action
Medical professionals may not intend to cause you harm, but they may nevertheless injure you through a negligent mistake. For example, your surgeon may accidentally damage an unrelated organ while operating on a nearby part of your body, or the surgeon could mistakenly leave a foreign object such as a sponge inside of you. While this negligence may be a mistake, such mistakes could cause you serious injury or even kill a patient.
Deviating from the Agreed-Upon Treatment
We expect our doctors to accurately communicate with us about the treatment that will be necessary. Indeed, for a patient to consent to an operation or other treatment, the patient must provide informed consent to any such treatment. This informed consent requires that the patient be accurately informed of the treatment that will be performed. If a doctor or other professional deviates from the agreed-upon treatment, the patient’s consent may be violated and this deviation may be evidence of malpractice.
Bias
Finally, bias may have been involved in leading to the physician’s negligence. This bias may take many forms, whether explicit or implicit, but may cause the medical professional to make an inaccurate or misguided decision. For example, a doctor may have a moral objection to a patient’s lifestyle and this bias could cause the doctor to overlook or dismiss the patient’s problem. Likewise, a doctor may allow stereotypes about a group of people based on various characteristics to lead the physician to dismiss certain complaints as dramatic or exaggerations which may, in turn, lead to a missed diagnosis of a potentially dangerous condition.
TYPES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Specific examples of medical malpractice that are responsible for many medical malpractice injury cases involving preventable injuries or deaths may include:
- Misdiagnosis or a failure to diagnose a condition
- Lack of informed consent
- Surgical errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Prescription or medication errors
- Negligent patient care by physicians or other medical professionals
- Overexertion caused by a physical therapist
- Birth injuries
HOW ZINDA LAW GROUP MAY HELP YOU
The aftermath of an accident can often be confusing, especially if you are left trying to navigate a claim on your own. By contacting one of the experienced New Mexico medical malpractice injury lawyers at Zinda Law Group, you may be able to focus on recovering from your injuries caused by medical negligence while your lawyer handles your claim. Hiring an attorney is often especially crucial in medical malpractice claims, as these cases often require highly technical testimony. The team at Zinda Law Group may help you seek compensation through a number of steps, such as:
Gathering Evidence
After hiring an attorney from Zinda Law Group, your lawyer may often begin by gathering as much evidence as possible to support your claim. In medical negligence cases, the amount of evidence needed may often be especially complex, as your lawyer may closely examine all of your medical records for evidence that you were negligently injured while being provided medical care. Even with a thorough document review of your medical records, your lawyer may also need to conduct extensive depositions of any medical staff involved in your treatment to gather more evidence that your doctor or other medical staff behaved negligently or otherwise did not meet the applicable standard of care.
Expert Witnesses
One of the most complicated aspects of medical malpractice cases is often the need to hire an expert witness to review your medical records and testify as to the medical negligence of your doctor, surgeon, or other medical professional who may have been responsible for your injuries. Expert witnesses are generally professionals working in the same field as the party responsible for your injuries or who otherwise have expertise in the subject matter. These expert witnesses are generally hired to first examine your case and determine whether they believe medical negligence may have caused your injuries. Beyond an initial opinion, they are also hired to provide their expert opinion as testimony in your case through depositions with the other party and at trial. During this testimony, your expert witness may provide highly technical insight into the medical profession or toward the applicable standard of care that should have been followed. For example, your witness may identify fault in your doctor’s notes describing how your injury or illness was diagnosed, how a test or exam was misinterpreted, or some other negligence occurred.
Medical malpractice trials often ultimately come down to the testimony of your expert witnesses versus those retained by the defendant medical professional or hospital. Your attorney may help by expert witnesses with excellent reputations that may be the most effective expert witnesses in helping you successfully pursue your medical malpractice injury claim.
Negotiating with the Insurance Company
Finally, one of the most significant advantages your New Mexico attorney may offer you is to level the playing field against the insurance company. The insurance company for the hospital or medical professional knows how complex a medical malpractice case can be and how difficult it can be to prove who was responsible for your injuries and further prove that medical negligence was involved. The insurer has a team of lawyers who will work to make sure that the insurer pays as little as possible, if anything, to settle your malpractice claim. Fortunately, by hiring an attorney from Zinda Law Group, your lawyer may have years of experience negotiating with insurance companies to obtain an acceptable settlement agreement. The success of these negotiations is often predicated on the thoroughness of your attorney’s investigation as well as the reliability and expertise of your expert witnesses. Further, an experienced attorney may know how to best present your evidence to an insurer to convince the insurer that a mutually agreeable settlement is in their favor as well as yours. This helps avoid the costs of a trial, where the insurer could potentially be held liable for even more compensation for your injuries and damages.
CONSULT THE NEW MEXICO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INJURY ATTORNEYS AT ZINDA LAW GROUP TODAY
At Zinda Law Group, our experienced team of medical malpractice injury lawyers may be able to help you if you or a loved one has been injured because of medical negligence. Our medical malpractice attorneys have years of experience helping our clients seek the maximum compensation they may be entitled to after being injured by the negligent actions or inactions of medical professionals.
Call (800) 863-5312 today for a free consultation with one of our New Mexico personal injury lawyers. You will not pay anything unless we can win your case. That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.
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