When you’re not feeling well or know it’s time for a routine checkup, you trust medical professionals to provide you with care that will help you get better or maintain your health. It can be nerve-wracking to place your care in someone else’s hands, but you expect them to have the education and attention to detail to help you to the best of their abilities. However, complications can arise when the person providing you with care makes a mistake, doesn’t have all your information, or believes you’re another patient. In these instances, you could receive treatment that you don’t need or may not be treated at all. If your health has suffered because of a medical provider’s mistake, a Santa Fe, NM medical malpractice lawyer can help you.
Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm is here for New Mexico residents who have been harmed because a doctor, nurse, or other medical provider has made an error. Their mistake could have caused costly, irreparable damage, and now the consequences of their mistake have fallen on you. We can be at your side throughout the entire legal process and fight for you to get the compensation you deserve.
What Are the Different Types of Medical Malpractice?
Medical negligence can occur in a number of ways. When hospitals try to keep staff low in an effort to save money, medical providers may work multiple shifts and become fatigued, which could increase the chances of a mistake occurring. Other instances may include a doctor not having the experience to deal with an issue that requires a specialist, or a surgeon may not be qualified to do a certain procedure. No matter what lead to the error, there’s no excuse for malpractice.
A Santa Fe, NM medical malpractice lawyer from Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm will discover how you were hurt and who was responsible. Medical malpractice can occur in a number of ways. One of the following may be what happened to you:
- Failure to Diagnose. This is when the doctor should have been able to arrive at a diagnosis based on your existing symptoms, but they didn’t, and your condition went untreated.
- Misdiagnosis. Doctors may look at the symptoms you’re describing and believe you have another issue than the one you actually have. This may lead to treating the wrong ailment.
- Medication Error. When you’re given the wrong medication or the wrong dosage, it could cause a severe reaction.
- Lack of Informed Consent for Surgery. You are supposed to provide written informed consent about your surgery so you know the risks and how it could possibly help you.
- Wrong-Site Surgery. This surgical error is when the wrong part of the body is operated on.
- Anesthesia Error. If you were given anesthesia and either had too little or too much, you could have had reactions because if it.
- Emergency Room Error. If someone experiencing obvious signs of a critical health event in an E.R. and no one spots it, the person’s life could be put at risk. You may have been showing symptoms of a heart attack but weren’t seen as soon as possible.
- Information Error. When patients change locations, the hospitals need to have updated and correct information. Poor system communication can impede this.
- Patient Chart Error. The teams of people treating you may change shifts, and your chart needs to be properly marked so the next shift knows any important updates or changes.
Any of these mistakes could have caused injuries like severe allergic reactions, unnecessary surgery, received the wrong care, or the patient didn’t get the care they needed in time. Recovering from malpractice can require more time in the hospital, medication, corrective surgical procedures, and a new timeline for when you’ll finish treatment. In more severe cases, medical malpractice can cause permanent disabilities or chronic issues.
Your lawyer will seek full and fair compensation on your behalf for the injuries and other health issues you’ve suffered. This will include your medical bills, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and loss of earnings, depending on how your injuries affect your ability to work. Other damages include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish.
Before learning more about how a Santa Fe, NM medical malpractice lawyer can help you, let’s look into what constitutes an eligible medical malpractice claim.
Components of a Med Mal Case
When you’re considering coming forward with a medical malpractice case, you need to first make sure that’s what occurred. Just because you weren’t satisfied with your care doesn’t mean the doctor made a mistake. There are also patients who have an ailment that will get progressively worse regardless of care. The decline in health didn’t come from the doctor’s negligence, it happened because that’s how the ailment works. In order to have a valid claim, your lawyer will examine your case to establish the following points:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed.
- The doctor owed to treat you within the standard of care.
- They deviated from the standard of care and failed to treat you as others would.
- You sustained injuries and damages because of the care you received.
Your medical records and working with expert witnesses to provide insight into the care you received can help show that you were a victim of medical malpractice. Although, even if you have these components, you still need to have your case reviewed. Let’s look into what that entails.
Bringing a Medical Malpractice Claim Forward in Santa Fe
If you were injured because of a medical professional’s negligence, are seeking legal action, and you have representation, there are still steps you need to take before coming forward with a lawsuit. In New Mexico, the Medical Review Commission will need to review your application. Your lawyer can help you file your application so your case is presented in the best way possible.
When you’re able to file a med mal claim, you also need to make sure it’s within the statute of limitations. In New Mexico, you have three years after the date when the malpractice happened. Missing this date could prevent you from pursuing legal action and compensation—which is why contacting a lawyer after you were harmed can help you follow the legal process properly and adhere to the timelines. Your Santa Fe, NM medical malpractice lawyer will make sure your paperwork is filed correctly and on time.
Get in Touch with Buckingham Barrera Vega Law Firm
If you or a loved one was a victim of medical malpractice, reach out to our office today for a free case evaluation. The steps involved to getting justice take time and can be complex, so it’s essential to get a lawyer on your side as quickly as possible.
Our compassionate and dedicated attorneys are here to answer your questions, go over your options, and help you get peace of mind. We’ll protect your best interests and help you move forward.
