Injuries resulting from medical malpractice affect millions of patients each year. These cases can be very complex and difficult to navigate.
Unlike car accidents where liability is more easily determined, medical malpractice cases take a certain type of lawyer who wants to work these cases. There is nothing easy about this road. And we do it, because it is our passion. The cases are long, not lucrative and have a million pitfalls. So you need to enjoy the challenge.
We enjoy that challenge. It stimulates us and, as a result, we feel we have an advantage over our opponents.
Different Types of Injuries We Handle:
- Birth Injury
- Brain Injury
- Suicide Prevention
- Delay In Cancer Diagnosis
- Nursing Home Negligence
- Undiagnosed Infections
- Heart Attacks Misdiagnosed
Legal Process in Louisiana
Time to File
Louisiana’s Medical Malpractice Act requires that a case alleging medical negligence must be filed within one year of a patient discovering the alleged malpractice or one year from when the patient should have known about the malpractice. So, if you discover alleged malpractice but do not act on filing anything within one year from that date of discovery, then you will lose.
In all cases, a plaintiff has a three year window within which to file a case, regardless of when the malpractice was discovered. So, if you have an operation, and four years later you discover malpractice due to that operation, you would lose.
Standard of Care
A doctor’s malpractice is determined by her standard of care in treating a patient. The standard of care reflects generally accepted practices and principles in applying care to patients as determined by healthcare providers in that field and specialty.
Providers may have slightly different protocols and each patient, even if presenting with the same conditions, may react differently to an applied standard of care because of the complexity of each human’s body.
However varied, a general range in the standard of care will be compared to the care provided by the healthcare provider when determining if malpractice occurred.
Medical Review Panels
Louisiana has a very unique system for medical malpractice cases that make it difficult for plaintiffs to bring successful lawsuits.
In almost all instances, before any lawsuits are filed, the case must be brought to a medical review panel. During this time any statutes of limitations (Prescription in Louisiana law) to file a suit in court is stayed so the plaintiff has time to file the case after a decision is made.
The panel is comprised of three health care providers practicing in the specialty of the defendant who acts as a Jury, and a lawyer who oversees the process, who acts like a Judge.
Both sides present their cases to the Judge and Jury by submitting a position paper arguing their case. This document may and often contain affidavits of witnesses, sworn deposition testimony, medical records, and other information relevant to proving their side of the case.
The panel comes to a decision by looking at the standard of care and then comparing that standard to the healthcare provider’s given care. Any deviation from that standard may lead to a determination of malpractice. It may also be the case that no malpractice occurred or that there was a disputed fact that would be relevant in determining if malpractice occurred. Whatever the panel decides, it must put forth a judgement within 180 days of the deadline for filing the position papers.
Filing in State Court
Only after the panel renders its decision may a case be filed in court. This must be done within 90 days of the decision or the plaintiff is barred from filing the case every again. At this time a case flows much like any other case that is filed in court and the determination of the medical review panel is included in the trial by the attorneys.
Confusion, Malpractice and Informed Consent
It is often the case that patients and inexperienced lawyers think that malpractice occurred. Without an in depth case review, it is difficult to assess cases for malpractice. Many situations that lead to devastating and unexpected outcomes are often mis-labeled as malpractice. You might think that the doctor never said that this would happen or that the likelihood was so small as to disregard. In most instances, however, you give consent by signing a document or verbally agreeing to what is known as informed risks. The reality of getting sick or doing a routine operation is that it comes with risks that can have potentially disastrous and unexpected consequences.
The emotional drive to lawyer-up and file a case when someone is injured or dead can lead to emotional decisionmaking that is not entirely fact-based, or you may want someone to blame. I understand your sentiment because I too have faced personal tragedy that has motivated me to become a medical malpractice attorney. I’ve wanted to inflict financial ruin and pain upon the healthcare provider that killed my brother. And while malpractice did occur in his case, the reality is that it often does not, but, as the victim, we feel we must go after those who have harmed us. My job is to make sure that we go after the right people and for the right reasons. I strive to make sure that this decision to do so is not done lightly and has facts to back it up. Because there is nothing worse than dragging out a long, arduous, emotional case after experiencing such physical harm already.