Were you or a family member a victim of a medical mistake in Baton Rouge, LA? You may deserve compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and more. Proving medical malpractice is almost always difficult. An experienced Baton Rouge medical malpractice lawyer at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers is ready to handle every aspect of your case.
We are some of the most trusted personal injury lawyers in the area. In fact, we have over 50 years of experience advocating on behalf of injury victims just like you. To date, we’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.
Are you curious about your legal options? Contact our law offices in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to discuss your case today or call (888) 601-0127 now.
How Can Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers Help With a Medical Malpractice Claim in Baton Rouge?
No patient should have to struggle with the consequences of a doctor’s mistake on their own. When you seek medical care, you should trust that your doctor will provide proper care. When they don’t, however, you shouldn’t expect them to step up and apologize. You’ll have to fight to hold them accountable.
Our Baton Rouge personal injury attorneys at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can help. While you focus on your health, we’ll handle the insurance company and the legal issues.
This includes:
- Gathering evidence to identify your doctor’s mistake
- Determining who is legally responsible for your damages
- Handling the paperwork and preparing your complaint
- Enlisting the help of experts who will be critical to proving your case
- Negotiating with the insurance company and their defense lawyers for a fair settlement
Members of our team have been recognized as Super Lawyers and earned the Avvo Client’s Choice Award. Now, our Baton Rouge personal injury attorneys are here to put our track record of success to work for you. You can get started today by calling for a free case review.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Not every bad medical outcome involves malpractice. Medical professionals are held to certain standards when providing care. Doctors commit malpractice when they make a mistake that causes their care to fall below the “standard of care.”
Identifying the standard of care is a complex process. The standard is developed within the medical community itself.
It varies depending on many factors, including:
- The medical condition involved
- The patient’s age and medical history
- The healthcare provider’s level of training and specialization
The important thing to remember is that when a healthcare professional provides sub-standard care and harms a patient, they can be held financially responsible.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice in Baton Rouge?
Medical negligence can occur at any stage in the treatment process, including diagnostic treatment, surgical care, after-care, and more. As such, any medical provider can potentially be held liable for medical malpractice.
Responsible parties may include:
- Surgeons and specialists, including cardiologists, oncologists, OBG/YNs, neurologists, etc.
- Primary care providers and family doctors
- Nurses
- Physician assistants
- Anesthesiologists
- Pharmacists and pharmacies
- Radiologists
- Emergency room doctors
- Hospitals and medical facilities
- Manufacturers of defective medical devices or dangerous prescription drugs
Often, the hospital itself will ultimately be responsible for paying a victim’s damages. When the party who actually made the mistake is an employee, the hospital or facility can be liable as their employer.
What is My Baton Rouge Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
Your case value depends on a number of unique factors, including:
- The nature and severity of the harm you suffered
- The nature of the medical provider’s mistake
- Whether you’ll make a full recovery or suffer long-term damage
- Your age and life expectancy prior to the medical error
- How the mistake impacts your quality of life and earnings
- Your financial losses, including medical treatment, specialized care, and rehabilitation
- The added pain and suffering you’ve endured due to the mistake
Settlements tend to be higher when a medical error leads to serious life changes. That said, the valuation process itself can be complex. Call our experienced lawyers in Baton Rouge today to start fighting for a fair settlement.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Errors in Baton Rouge?
Louisiana laws allow victims to seek compensation for economic damages and non-economic damages.
You may be entitled to compensation for:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning potential
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Nursing assistance
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Anxiety disorders
- Depression
- PTSD, fear, and stress
- Diminished quality of life
- Reduced life expectancy
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of consortium and additional damages for wrongful death
Damages in medical malpractice cases are also subject to a state-mandated cap. The maximum that you can recover is $500,000. However, that amount doesn’t include your future medical expenses.
Medical Malpractice Often Leaves Patients to Struggle With Serious Long-Term Damage
Medical mistakes have the potential to cause significant long-term damage. As the victim, you deserve to hold the at-fault party accountable for all of your losses.
Our attorneys in Baton Rouge often represent clients who have suffered:
- Worsened medical conditions
- A need for more intense, invasive medical treatment
- Reduced life expectancy
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Organ damage
- Amputations
- Paralysis and loss of mobility
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Sepsis
- Shock
- Catastrophic injuries
- Wrongful death of a loved one
If you or a loved one were harmed, don’t hesitate to reach out to our law firm today. We’d be happy to listen to your story and discuss all the options you may have.
What Causes Most Medical Errors in Baton Rouge, Louisiana?
Medical mistakes are most likely to occur when medical professionals are careless. Doctors must complete intense training before they can practice medicine. Still, mistakes can and do happen.
Some of the leading causes of medical malpractice include:
- Failure to diagnose cancer and other diseases
- Misdiagnosis, often due to misinterpreting lab results or failure to recognize symptoms
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Charting and communication errors
- Understaffing in medical facilities, which can result in overworked and exhausted staff
- Failure to adequately monitor patients before, during, and after procedures
- Mistaken patient identity
- Failure to recognize adverse drug interactions
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Improper use of medical equipment
- Unsanitary conditions
- Failure to refer patients to specialists when necessary
- Failure to obtain a complete patient medical history
- Lack of experience or training
- Failure to properly supervise inexperienced healthcare providers
This list is far from complete. A wide variety of circumstances can give rise to a valid medical malpractice claim. As the patient, you may not know exactly why you’re struggling–you just know that something went wrong.
Our Baton Rouge medical malpractice attorneys can help you find out what happened. Call our law firm today to arrange a free consultation to get started.
What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Medical Malpractice Case in Louisiana?
Medical malpractice is a type of negligence. In your average personal injury case, proof of negligence means proving four elements:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Damages
Medical malpractice cases are slightly more specific.
To win your case, you must establish:
- You were owed a legal duty of care because you were the defendant’s patient
- The medical standard of care that you should have received
- The defendant breached their duty of care by deviating from the standard of care
- That deviation, or breach, directly caused you to suffer some type of harm
- The specific damages you suffered as a result
In all cases, the important question becomes: Did I receive the same care that a reasonable, trained medical professional would have provided under the circumstances?
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After a Mistake in Louisiana?
The statute of limitations in Louisiana medical malpractice cases is only one year. You have one year from the date the injury occurred to file a lawsuit. If you didn’t discover the injury immediately, you have one year from the date you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the harm. However, under the statute of repose, your lawsuit must be filed no later than three years.
Before filing a lawsuit based on medical malpractice, nearly all victims must submit a complaint to a medical review panel. The complaint will include various information, including evidence to support your claim, such as expert testimony.
The panel consists of licensed medical experts who will evaluate your claim and determine whether it should proceed. The statute of limitations is suspended while the review panel evaluates your claim.
Contact a Baton Rouge Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation Today
If the process for filing a medical malpractice claim seems complex, that’s because it is. You don’t have to try to handle it alone. It’s critical to have an experienced Baton Rouge medical malpractice lawyer in your corner from the start.
Our lawyers at Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers will stand by your side every step of the way. Contact us today or visit our office in Baton Rouge to discuss your case and learn about your options.
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Office in Baton Rouge, LA
Mansfield Melancon Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
404 Europe Street, Baton Rouge, LA, 70802
(225) 263-4787
