A medical malpractice compensation claims lawyer deals with applications for damages against healthcare professionals for personal injury and loss caused as a result of erroneous clinical treatment or diagnosis. All categories of healthcare professionals can be sued for medical malpractice compensation including consultants, specialists, doctors, dentists, midwives, nurses, pharmacists, psychiatrists, psychologists and all manner of technical staff practicing in many fields of medicine including surgery, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, radiology, physiotherapy, oncology, dermatology, psychology and psychiatry. Many of these professional people will be personally insured against medical malpractice compensation claims and those who are not will be indemnified by the insurance policy that covers their employer. Any legal action that a potential claimant takes against a healthcare professional for a financial award for personal injury and loss caused by medical malpractice will not come out of the pocket of the negligent professional but will be paid by their insurers. Medical malpractice insurance companies have a reputation for fully defending all, but the most obvious cases and it is to your advantage, in order to preserve your legal right to compensation, to contact a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible after the event that caused the injury.

 

Qualified Legal Advice

Specialist medical malpractice lawyers offer free impartial initial advice on clinical compensation claims without legal jargon and usually without further obligation. They will listen to you and will take a detailed statement from you over the telephone. They will give you their views, there and then on the potential for a medical malpractice compensation claim. They will advise on civil liability and will attempt to give you an accurate estimate of the compensation award that you might expect to receive. Medical malpractice lawyer will initially contact the insurers of the healthcare professional involved in an attempt to negotiate settlement without recourse to a court of law however if the insurance company denies liability on behalf of the healthcare provider or if they admit liability but are tardy in settlement a lawyer will not hesitate to pursue the matter through the courts in Canada. Contact a law firm for free initial advice on medical malpractice compensation claims without further obligation. If after speaking to them you decide not to take matters further then that is your right and they will not thereafter pursue you to proceed. Advice is completely confidential and a law firm in Canada will not disclose any of your details to any third party.

 

Law of Malpractice

Medical malpractice law is a branch of the general law of negligence normally used in non-clinical personal injury compensation claims. The normal principles of negligence apply however these have been modified to take account of the clinical environment. The existence of a duty of care between a patient and a healthcare provider goes without saying. To prove a medical malpractice compensation, claim in Canada it is necessary to show that there exists a duty of care, that the treatment failed to achieve a reasonable standard of care and that the injury was actually caused or exacerbated by erroneous treatment or late diagnosis or mis-diagnosis. The mere fact that the chosen treatment failed whereas alternative treatment may have succeeded does not necessarily indicate medical malpractice.

 

Time Limits

Medical malpractice compensation claims are no different to other personal injury cases and are subject to time limits. In general terms a medical malpractice compensation claim must be settled, or proceedings issued in a court of law within the limitation period which worldwide depends on location. The court has a wide, but rarely exercised discretion in limitation matters and may determine other issues that prevent time from precluding an application for damages.

 

Awards of Compensation

An award of damages in a medical malpractice compensation claim is designed to put the claimant back into the position that they would have been had the negligent act not taken place. This is of course a very difficult proposition and in the extreme case a financial award can never compensation for the death of a loved one. Awards are based on historical awards made in other previously decided cases and on the judge’s previous experience and instinct as a senior lawyer and after following government guidelines. Both parties are allowed to put forward their views on the value of the claim if it comes to a full hearing for damages however almost all cases are decided on a voluntary basis following discussions between the parties’ lawyers without the necessity of intervention by a judge except in cases involving children and the mentally disabled. Financial awards in medical malpractice compensation claims may include the following categories which are not exhaustive:

 

Damages for pain and suffering both physical and psychological.

Loss of past income and estimated future income.

Compensation for loss of opportunity, chance and lifestyle.

A financial award for loss of congenial employment

General expenses incurred in dealing with the injury both past and future.

Cost of care including awards to relatives for gratuitous care.

Expenses incurred in pursuing a medical malpractice compensation claim.

 

Fatalities

Canadian law categorizes those who can claim as dependents in the event of a fatality caused by clinical malpractice. Fatal accident compensation consists of the claim that the deceased would have been entitled to make had that person survived which includes pain and suffering plus funeral expenses together with a claim for any dependents of the deceased that takes into account the loss of the financial support that was formerly provided by the deceased plus potential future losses based on estimated future earnings. There is also a sum payable to the spouse of the deceased or to the parents of a deceased child for their bereavement. Time limits apply to fatal accident compensation claims arising in a clinical environment and it is advisable to contact a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible.