The healthcare professional that the average person interacts with the most on a regular basis is typically someone who practices “family medicine.” A general practitioner who establishes personal relationships with patients and serves as a point of first contact for minor ailments and concerns. However, while the stakes involved in a family doctor visit are typically lower than those in an emergency room or urgent care facility, malpractice is unfortunately still all too common in family medicine, sometimes leading to life-altering injuries and illnesses not being treated properly.
Taking legal action against the family doctor can be daunting, but enforcing your rights with a skilled malpractice attorney’s help can be crucial to recovering financially and personally when your family doctor allows you to be harmed through their own misconduct. An experienced New Haven family medicine malpractice lawyer will be a dependable ally from beginning to end of your legal proceedings.
Like other types of healthcare professionals, family physicians are expected to always adhere to a specific “standard of care.” This standard of care broadly means they are expected to act the same way that an equally qualified and experienced physician would under the same or similar circumstances. A family doctor commits malpractice if they directly harm—or allow harm to come to—a patient by doing something that no reasonable family doctor should have done under the conditions they were working within.
Some of the more common grounds for malpractice litigation against family physicians include:
A New Haven family medicine malpractice attorney can offer vital guidance during a free initial consultation about what may or may not serve as valid grounds for a malpractice claim.
It is crucial to understand that courts will not just take a patient’s word for it that their doctor acted negligently and caused them harm as a result. To file a valid malpractice lawsuit against a family doctor or any other healthcare professional, an injured person will need to prove they made a “reasonable inquiry” to establish that they had valid grounds to sue in good faith over malpractice.
The “reasonable inquiry” process must include consulting with at least one qualified medical expert who affirms in a written and signed statement that they believe legally actionable malpractice occurred. For a family medicine malpractice claim in New Haven to proceed, either the injured party or their lawyer must submit this documentation at the time of their initial complaint or a maximum of 90 days after the applicable statutory filing deadline for that complaint.
Everyone deserves to receive high-quality and compassionate care from any healthcare provider they go to for treatment, and especially from their family physician. If you or a loved one is suffering because of your general practitioner’s negligence, taking proactive legal action may be essential to protecting your best interests now and well into the future.
Assistance is available from a capable New Haven family medicine malpractice lawyer. Contact Berkowitz Hanna today to learn more about what we can do for you.
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