When you go to a doctor, you expect them to make you better, not worse. Sadly, negligence by healthcare professionals can cause severe harm to innocent patients. You have rights if a doctor’s incompetence or carelessness harmed you. Fighting back with a medical malpractice lawsuit could be a way to hold a negligent doctor accountable, ensure that future patients are not hurt by the same bad care, and get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.
If you think a doctor’s mistake or mistreatment injured you or worsened your health, discuss your concerns with an experienced attorney at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers. The New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers at our firm will fight to make the doctor pay for the harm they did to you.
Founding Partner Jon Ostroff and the legal team at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers won a $1.3 million pre-trial settlement for a client who endured a surgical error during a routine skin biopsy. Attorney Christine Clarke has exceeded $100 million in successful jury verdicts representing people hurt by bad medical care and defective medical devices in cases against some of the country’s largest hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. We are prepared to stand up for your rights.
Forms of Medical Malpractice
To prove that a doctor committed medical malpractice, your lawyer must show that they failed to meet the appropriate standard of care. A doctor is liable for malpractice if their actions or failures to act did not meet the professional “standard of care” – what an ordinary medical professional in the same field would have done in the same circumstances. In other words, the doctor did not show the amount of knowledge, skill, or judgment you had the right to expect.
Unfortunately, a doctor’s poor care could affect you in many ways. Some of the ways a doctor might commit malpractice include the following:
- Not diagnosing a disease before it has a permanent impact on your health
- Making the wrong diagnosis and treating you for something you don’t have
- Prescribing the wrong medication, dosage, or instructions
- Not ordering the right tests to discover the cause of your symptoms
- Performing an unnecessary surgery
- Injuring you during surgery
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Not referring you to a specialist when they lack the knowledge or skill to handle a condition themselves
- Not telling you about the side effects of a medication or procedure before you agree to the treatment
Other actions or failures could also constitute malpractice. Talk to one of our respected attorneys about your situation to determine whether your doctor could be legally responsible for your injury or illness. A New Jersey attorney at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers will review your medical records looking for examples of the doctor’s carelessness or lack of skill. If we find evidence of malpractice, we could take the next step in getting the payments you deserve.
Damages in a Malpractice Lawsuit in New Jersey
Your local medical malpractice attorney can file a lawsuit against the negligent healthcare provider and his or her employer The lawsuit would ask the doctor to pay you for the harm they caused. The money a doctor pays you is called your damages, which can cover your:
- Costs for medical treatment caused by the malpractice
- Loss of income or lost earning power
- Physical pain
- Inconvenience
- Disability
- Scarring
- Loss of life’s pleasures
- Humiliation
- Mental suffering
In certain situations, you could ask a court for punitive damages meant to punish the doctor for their egregious conduct. However, courts don’t award punitive damages often, and when they do, the law limits how much they can award. New Jersey Statutes Annotated §2A:15-5.14 says punitive damages cannot be more than $350,000 or five times the patient’s other damages, whichever is more.
Strict Time Limits Protect Doctors
The law in New Jersey says that a patient and their attorney must file a medical malpractice lawsuit no more than two years after the doctor’s mistake occurs or is discovered. Two years is not a long time to discover malpractice, find an attorney, and get the case ready to file. It can also be challenging to determine exactly when the mistake occurred.
For example, if your original doctor misdiagnosed you, you might spend two years or more going from doctor to doctor until you finally find one who knows what is wrong. In a case like this, your lawyer can file your lawsuit anytime within two years of discovering your correct diagnosis.
If a doctor caused an injury to your child at birth, you must bring a lawsuit before the child turns 13. If the child was older when the doctor injured them, you could bring a lawsuit for your child, or they could file a lawsuit for themselves once they turn 18. In any situation, it is best to call a respected New Jersey attorney as soon as possible to protect your right to file a medical malpractice claim.
Rely on a New Jersey Attorney for Medical Malpractice Cases
If a careless doctor leaves you in a worse condition after treating you, they should be held responsible. A medical malpractice lawsuit gives you a way to seek justice and get the resources you need to make your best recovery.
However, there is limited time to act. Talk to a New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible about your potential claim. Set up a consultation with Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to get started.
