Managing Partner
You may have the right to sue a medical provider if your pain never improved after treatment, but you will need more than just this fact to make a compelling medical malpractice claim. This is largely because of the elements that patients must prove in these lawsuits.
If you were the victim of medical malpractice, or you think you were, you will need committed legal advocacy to prove your argument. It starts with hiring a skilled Long Island law firm. Count on Dell & Dean PLLC to fight for the compensation you deserve.
Knowing the Elements of Medical Malpractice
Suing your healthcare provider in New York starts with understanding the elements of a medical malpractice lawsuit. As the patient/victim, you must be able to prove each of these:
- Duty of care: This means that the healthcare provider had a doctor-patient relationship with you.
- Breach: Next, you must show that the doctor breached the duty of care by departing from the accepted standard of care (in other words, by committing medical negligence).
- Causation: The breach must directly cause your injuries.
- Damages: Finally, you must prove the nature and amount of your losses, such as medical bills, pain and suffering, and more.
These elements require more than simply proving that your medical provider made a mistake. The law does not require that a doctor never makes a mistake. Rather, the mistake must be a departure from accepted standards of care.
Another way of putting this: the doctor’s mistake has to be unreasonable. You and your Long Island medical malpractice attorney will explore an important question: what would a reasonably competent and prudent doctor have done in your situation?
Ongoing Pain May Not Be Enough
It is possible that the persistence of pain from your treatment could qualify as medical malpractice. But this must be directly tied to some sort of unacceptable error that the doctor made, such as:
- Giving you the wrong medication
- Operating on the wrong part of the body
- Making a procedural mistake during your surgery
- Misdiagnosing a condition that got worse and caused more pain
- Failing to order necessary tests or follow up with the patient
- Failing to monitor the patient
When these and other errors are present, and they result in pain that does not go away, the patient may have a medical malpractice claim. But the pain by itself is insufficient to support a lawsuit. Some pain will not respond to treatment even when the doctor does everything right.
Judges in Long Island are not going to focus primarily on whether the pain treatment was effective, although that could be evidence of substandard care. Instead, courts want to know if in fact that care was poor and how it departed from accepted standards.
The Evidence That Could Support Your Case
As with any other medical malpractice lawsuit, a plaintiff alleging ongoing pain must substantiate their claims with evidence. The evidence that may support your allegations could include the following:
- Expert witness testimony: In order to prove what the standard of care is, you will need an expert witness to testify. This is a medical expert who can explain the intricacies of this topic to a judge and jury.
- Medical evidence: You will also need medical evidence linking the doctor’s mistake to your ongoing pain. This could include medical records, doctors’ notes, or even testimony from another physician who is treating your condition.
- Medical imaging and test results: It’s also a good idea to produce MRIs, lab test results, and other objective proof documenting your injury. You will need to prove the existence of a mistake and link it to your continuing pain.
Let Us Fight for the Maximum Compensation in Your Case
Medical malpractice victims in Long Island deserve compensation for their losses, including for mistakes that cause persistent pain. Our firm is ready to help you make the case for the maximum available damages. Get in touch with Dell & Dean now to begin your legal matter.
