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Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Puerto Rico
Medical Malpractice Law:
The health care community often attacks malpractice lawsuits as "frivolous", claiming that they are nothing more than get-rich-quick attempts. In truth, malpractice lawsuits are often the only means for victims of medical malpractice to file grievances and ask for compensation. Malpractice lawsuits are used to help patients receive the funds they are due, to hold medical professionals accountable, and to encourage monitoring of health care by individuals and organizations.
Please be advised that there are strict guidelines that govern the time in which you may file a medical malpractice case. These guidelines are referred to as the statute of limitations. Failure to comply with the applicable statute of limitations in your particular state could preclude you from proceeding with your claim and might prevent you from ever recovering damages for any of your injuries. We make no representation concerning the manner in which any state’s statutes of limitations apply to your particular circumstances.
Malpractice lawsuits seek to establish an expected standard of care for the location and type of facility where the alleged malpractice took place. After establishing the standard of care, persons filing malpractice lawsuits must then prove that that standard was breached, that the breach caused or greatly contributed to an injury or death, and that the malpractice victim is therefore entitled to compensation. For attorneys, malpractice lawsuits are often costly and time-consuming, due in part to the requirement for expert witness testimony. Additionally, malpractice lawsuits require that the attorney obtain copies of the entire patient’s medical records, which can take weeks or months. Most attorneys take malpractice lawsuits on a contingency basis, which means that their clients don’t have to pay unless the suit is won. This is intended to prevent lawyers from taking advantage of people, but also means that malpractice lawsuits may be turned down even if they have merit, if attorneys aren’t personally willing to take the risk.
Thousands of people suffer as a result of medical malpractice every year. A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in 1999 estimated that more than 3% of patients in many hospitals were victims of a medical mistake which resulted in serious injury. Nationally, the Harvard Medical Practice Study estimated that, each year, more than 180,000 people die, at least in part, because of medical mistakes. Public Citizen, non-profit organization which advocates the rights of consumers, estimates that, each year, 1.3 million injuries are caused by negligence, and that more than two-thirds of these injuries are preventable.
Suits Against Health Care Professionals and Hospitals
Health care professionals and hospitals are responsible for compensating a patient injured as a result of medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice suits arise under the following circumstances:
- Against a government agency that operates hospitals or provides specified medical care.
- Against a hospital for administering improper or overdoses of medication, negligent nursing care, inadequate sanitation, infection, or equipment failure.
- Against a physician, who in the general practice of medicine, deviates from the general accepted standards of practice in the community.
- Against a medical specialist who deviates from a nationally accepted standard of practice for specialists in that field of medicine.
Suits Against Physicians
In suits against the physicians, medical malpractice most commonly occurs under the following circumstances:
- The physician delayed diagnosis of a medical condition, or failed to diagnose the patients medical condition altogether
- The physician properly made the correct diagnosis, and then failed to properly treat the medical condition
- The physician failed to perform a surgical procedure properly
- The physician fails to obtain the informed consent of the patient before performing a procedure or operation