Healthcare providers are expected to treat every patient with the utmost care and skill. When they fail in their duty of care—like making surgical mistakes, misdiagnoses, administering the wrong medication, and more—the results can be life-altering. Sadly, Louisiana ranks highest in the country for medical practice cases.
At Dudley DeBosier, we’ve seen the impact of medical malpractice on countless patients and their loved ones. If you or someone you love was injured in Lafayette because of medical negligence, our team is here to fight for the justice and compensation you deserve. Reach out for a free consultation today.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice happens when a healthcare provider is negligent and fails to provide the acceptable standard of care. This type of negligence causes harm that could have been prevented if the medical provider had lived up to their oath to “do no harm.”
Being dissatisfied or experiencing poor results or worsened condition is not enough to prove medical malpractice. Under Louisiana law, medical malpractice includes medication errors, surgical mistakes, misdiagnosis, birth injuries, failure to obtain informed consent, and various other types of neglect.
Who Can File a Claim?
The following victims may be eligible to file a medical malpractice claim:
- Injured Patient: The person directly harmed by a medical provider’s negligence can file a claim to seek compensation for their injuries.
- Family in Wrongful Death Cases: When a medical mistake results in a loved one’s death, certain members of the family can file a wrongful death claim to seek damages associated with the loss of their loved one.
Most Louisiana malpractice cases are reviewed by a medical review panel consisting of three medical professionals and an attorney. They determine if the medical provider’s actions or inactions strayed from the standard of care. Although their opinion isn’t legally binding, it does play a significant role in these cases.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice
There are many ways medical malpractice can happen. Whether at a hospital, an urgent care medical facility, or at your doctor’s office, medical errors are common. A few of the examples of errors or neglect that can lead to medical malpractice claims include:
- Nursing Home Negligence
- Surgical Errors
- Drug Overdoses in Hospitals
- Improper Medication Disbursement
- Delayed or Wrong Diagnosis
- Emergency Room Negligence
- Birth Injuries
- Anesthesia Errors
Healthcare providers are legally obligated to provide a reasonable standard of care. If they breach this standard, they should be held responsible. That’s where our team comes in. Lafayette patients should be able to comfortably put their trust in medical providers, and when that trust is broken, we work to hold negligent medical providers accountable and recover the compensation needed for all their losses.
Getting Compensation for Medical Malpractice
While reviewing damages in a medical malpractice claim, it’s essential to assess the full scope of damages caused by the negligence of the medical provider. Damages are separated into the following two categories:
- Special Damages: These include quantifiable monetary losses such as medical expenses (past and future), lost wages, lost earning capacity, and rehabilitation costs. Documenting all medical bills and financial records (receipts) to support your claim is critical to recovering special damages.
- General Damages: These compensate for non-economic losses such as pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, loss of companionship, and an overall loss of enjoyment in life. These damages can be more subjective and may require testimony from mental health and medical experts to help demonstrate the extent of a victim’s losses.
Although it takes expert legal representation to seek all of the damages mentioned above, Lafayette offers free support for people struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges that often afflict medical malpractice victims.
Proving Medical Malpractice Occurred
To successfully recover damages in a medical malpractice case, we must prove that the healthcare provider’s negligence was the direct cause of the injury. It’s critical to clearly demonstrate the following elements:
- Duty of Care: Healthcare providers have a legal obligation to provide a specific standard of care to their patients. They must meet this standard with every patient.
- Breach of Duty: To succeed in a malpractice claim, it must be proven that the medical provider breached their duty by failing to meet the accepted standard of care.
- Causation: This refers to proof that the breach of duty directly caused the injury. The challenge here is to show that the injury would not have occurred if not for the provider’s negligence.
- Damages: There must be clear evidence that the harm or injury suffered is a result of the breach. This includes both economic and non-economic damages.
Lafayette is home to the largest full-service medical facility in the region: Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center. While our community is fortunate to have access to a hospital of this size and scope, larger medical facilities must handle overwhelmingly high patient loads. This can increase the likelihood of medical mistakes that lead to malpractice cases.
Why Choose Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers
Our Lafayette medical malpractice lawyers have a proven track record of securing substantial verdicts and settlements for victims of medical malpractice.
With nearly 200 team members with extensive legal and medical expertise, you can count on top-notch, personalized representation. We treat every client like family—because to us, they are.
Additionally, our fee is contingent upon the outcome, which ensures that you can focus on your recovery while we focus on securing the compensation you need.
Contact Dudley DeBosier’s Lafayette Medical Malpractice Lawyers
At Dudley DeBosier, we’ve witnessed the devastation medical malpractice victims and their families endure. We believe wholeheartedly that it’s our job to help them get the care and compensation they need and deserve to fully recover.
If you or a loved one was harmed by medical negligence, contact us right away for a free, no-obligation consultation.
