Everyone should be able to trust that their primary care physician will accurately diagnose any medical problems they are dealing with, provide appropriate and timely treatment for those problems, and generally provide high-quality and compassionate care no matter the circumstances. While most family practitioners meet this basic “standard of care” without any issue, there are, unfortunately, some who fail to do so on a regular basis, which sometimes leads to their patients—possibly including young children—suffering serious physical harm.
The idea of taking legal action against your family doctor may understandably seem less than appealing, but enforcing your rights with a skilled malpractice attorney’s help can be crucial to protecting your family’s best interests in the wake of a serious injury caused by professional misconduct. No matter what circumstances led up to this moment, a Connecticut family medicine malpractice lawyer at Berkowitz Hanna can provide the custom-tailored and compassionate support you need to get the best case result possible.
The “standard of care” that healthcare professionals owe to their patients is different from the “duty of care” that exists for most personal injury cases. Rather than being liable for any injury stemming directly from a mistake they made, physicians are only liable for injuries caused by mistakes that another equally qualified physician would not have made under similar or identical circumstances.
What qualifies as a breach in the standard of care for a family practitioner may change a lot depending on the circumstances, especially if that practitioner is dealing with a sudden and urgent medical problem that they typically would not expect to handle. That said, some examples of irresponsible actions that may give rise to a malpractice claim if they directly result in injury to a patient include:
A Connecticut family medicine malpractice attorney can offer more specific guidance during an initial meeting about whether a particular scenario may justify legal action.
A family practitioner found liable for injuring an adult or child patient could be financially liable for all losses that the injured person has already suffered and will likely suffer in the future as a result of their injury. On the economic side of things, recoverable damages may include not only excess medical bills but also things like lost work income, lost future earning capacity, and disability-related expenses for things like wheelchairs and home/vehicle modifications.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, typically center around physical pain and suffering but can also incorporate things like emotional anguish, psychological trauma, and lost overall quality of life. Fortunately, Connecticut does not place caps on how much money a person injured by family medicine malpractice can demand for their losses, so it is possible to recover for the full value of all applicable damages with a skilled lawyer’s assistance.
A visit to your family doctor’s office should never end with you leaving in worse condition than when you arrived. Unfortunately, that exact scenario affects more families than you might expect.
You have help available with taking proactive legal action against a negligent family practitioner who has harmed you or one of your loved ones with their misconduct. Call Berkowitz Hanna today to discuss your options with a Connecticut family medicine malpractice lawyer.
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