Your health is what’s most important to you. So when you decide to put your health in the forefront of your life and seek medical treatment for whatever is ailing you, you expect to receive the best care and get correct answers to what is wrong with you. Many doctors and other healthcare professionals provide you with just that when you’re their patient, and you leave feeling cared for and healed.
Unfortunately, that’s not always what happens. Sometimes you leave the office needing the help of our Brownsville, TX medical malpractice lawyer. When a doctor or other medical professional has been negligent and made an error in your treatment that led to you suffering from more injuries and damages, you could have a med mal claim.
At Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm, we understand how vulnerable this leaves you feeling. You could have trouble trusting other positions of power because of how healthcare workers betrayed you. But you can trust us to handle your claim and get you justice for what you’ve gone through.
Proving Negligence in Medical Malpractice
Like any other personal injury claim, medical malpractice claims rely on your lawyers proving that negligence occurred. Negligence is the basis of your entire case because it proves that a medical error happened and caused you injury and other damages. When proving negligence, there are four elements that your med mal lawyer needs to establish.
According to Texas Code, these elements of negligence are:
- A doctor-patient relationship was established, and your doctor owed you a duty of care.
- Your doctor was negligent and breached that duty of care.
- The breach in care directly caused you injury.
- Your injuries led to you suffering from damages.
In order to prove these elements, your lawyer will need all of your relevant documentation. Your medical records, medical bills, lost wages, and future costs that you might incur are all evidence that a medical error occurred and caused you harm in the form of damages.
This is why it’s important to note that medical malpractice isn’t simply being upset or unsatisfied with the care you received from your doctor. You deserve the best care from your doctors, but if medical negligence didn’t occur and didn’t result in your injury, then your experience likely wasn’t medical malpractice.
It’s also important to note that there is a time limit for how long you have to file a med mal claim with attorneys. In Texas, you have two years from the date of the injury or from the end date of your treatment to file for medical malpractice against the practitioner who hurt you. If it’s been longer than two years, you likely don’t have a case.
Your Brownsville, TX medical malpractice attorney will be able to determine whether or not you have a med mal claim.
Types of Medical Negligence
When proving an error occurred, your lawyer will look into exactly what happened. They’ll use your evidence to show that a practitioner was negligent, and by narrowing down what type of negligence occurred. Here are some of the most common forms of medical errors that occur to patients in Brownsville:
- Misdiagnosis
- Missed Diagnosis
- Medication Errors
- Misread Tests
- Unnecessary Treatments or Medications
- Anesthesia Errors
- Premature Discharge
- Disregarding Allergies
- Surgical Errors
- Birth Injuries
All of the above could be considered medical malpractice and result in life-changing injuries for a patient. That’s why you need legal representation after one of the above situations happens to you and causes you injuries and other damages. Even if you don’t see the scenario that you experienced listed above, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t medical negligence.
That’s why you should consult a Brownsville, TX medical malpractice lawyer about your situation. They’ll be able to answer your questions, look at your case, and determine whether or not you have a med mal claim. From there, they’ll support you through the legal process and help you get justice.
Damage Caps for Texas Med Mal Claims
Another main aspect to your claim will be how much you can recover in damages for what you’ve been through. Like other personal injury claims, you’ll be able to recover economic damages. These include the physical costs that you’ve suffered as a result of the medical negligence. For examples, costs like medical bills, lost wages, future costs of care, and future lost wages can all be included in this value.
In medical malpractice claims, you can recover the full amount of economic damages that are determined by your lawyer. However, you might not be able to do the same for your noneconomic damages in Texas because there are damage caps for the more abstract costs you could incur from your injuries, like pain and suffering.
The caps for noneconomic damages in our state are as follows:
- $250,000 per claimant against a single physician or healthcare provider
- $250,000 per claimant against a single health care institution
- $500,000 per claimant against multiple health care institutions
Texas noneconomic damage caps can be confusing and calculating your economic damages can be overwhelming as well. You might also be struggling and wondering if you qualify for punitive damages that punish the negligent party. That’s why you could use the help of one of our lawyers from Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm.
Our Brownsville, TX medical malpractice lawyer is here to answer all of your questions and calculate all of these values for you. That way, you can focus on your healing while we fight to get you the financial compensation you deserve.
You Can Trust Our Med Mal Attorneys
After your doctor or nurse makes a mistake that leaves you with physical damages, you could be left feeling vulnerable and unsure who to turn to. At Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm, we understand how you’re feeling and understand why you might feel too intimidated to take legal action. But that’s why we’re here to help.
Our Brownsville, TX medical malpractice attorney will look into what happened and represent you in your legal claim so that you can focus on your physical and emotional recovery. We’ll keep you from settling less so that you can fully recover. Reach out to us today so we can schedule a free consultation
