St. Tammany Parish Medical Malpractice Lawyer

In most situations, doctors can be trusted implicitly to provide skilled and effective care to their patients. However, even medical professionals make errors and if such a mistake causes you to suffer undue harm, you may want to contact a personal injury attorney to take legal action. An experienced St. Tammany Parish medical malpractice lawyer could provide guidance and expertise throughout your entire case, from its initial filing to the final ruling in or out of court.

How State Law Addresses Medical Malpractice

Louisiana Revised Statutes §9:2794 sets out several unique requirements for medical malpractice cases that do not apply to the typical personal injury claim. In order to satisfy their burden of proof by “a preponderance of the evidence,” a medical malpractice plaintiff in St. Tammany Parish and their attorney must first establish what the usual standard of care would be for a doctor treating a patient under the same or similar circumstances. Next, they must show that the doctor failed to uphold this duty through carelessness, recklessness, lack of requisite knowledge, or lack of appropriate skill.

Finally, the plaintiff and their legal representative must demonstrate how their doctor’s actions led directly to additional injury or harm that a competent healthcare provider could have avoided. At every stage of this process, testimony from medical experts may be necessary to establish what should have happened and the shortcomings leading to the plaintiff’s injuries.

Obstacles to Recovering Compensation

Any civil claim alleging medical malpractice must be filed no later than one year after the date the medical operation occurred or the date the plaintiff reasonably should have discovered their injury. This is a much shorter statutory period than that imposed by many other states, so quick action is necessary when working with a lawyer to file a malpractice case in St. Tammany Parish.

Additionally, plaintiffs cannot recover more than $500,000 for all damages related to medical malpractice excepting future medical costs for long-term or permanent injuries. This is another way in which Louisiana differs from other states, as this state’s Supreme Court has not yet declared this kind of cap on civil recovery to be unconstitutional.

What a St. Tammany Medical Malpractice Lawyer Could Do to Help

Recovering compensation from a medical professional can be a daunting task anywhere in the United States, but Louisiana maintains especially harsh restrictions on what patients can recover for and how they can go about pursuing that recovery. Fortunately, help is available if you are suffering from a healthcare provider’s mistake and hope to find recourse in civil court.

A seasoned St. Tammany Parish medical malpractice lawyer could work with you to catalogue all your applicable damages, effectively prove liability on the part of a negligent doctor or care facility, and pursue maximum compensation for your losses. To learn what may be possible for your case, call today.