According to a recent study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, it is estimated that nearly 100,000 patients are killed each year in hospitals as a result of major medical mistakes. In addition, millions more suffer injuries each year due to negligence. If you have been injured due to medical mistakes, or you are a family member of a loved one who has died due to medical mistakes, you will need to find an experienced medical malpractice lawyer or attorney in your area.

Medical malpractice can be defined as negligence committed by a health care professional resulting in physical and/or economic harm to a patient. A medical malpractice lawyer or attorney will have the ability to determine if you are a victim of medical malpractice by examining several factors that must be present to prove medical malpractice. Keep in mind that the burden of proof is on the victim (plaintiff) in the malpractice lawsuit. The elements of proof are: Breach of Duty, Duty of Care, Injury, and Proximate cause.

While the elements of proof are fairly similar for every state, the prescribed standard of medical care varies state to state, as well as the way in which damages are awarded, and the amount of time allowed to file your claim. For instance, in the state of Connecticut, you have two years (no more than three years) after the injury is discovered to file your claim. The same amount of time is allowed for medical mistakes that result in death. In addition, Connecticut does not impose a cap on compensatory damages recoverable in medical malpractice actions. By judicial decision, rather than legislation, common law punitive damages are limited to a plaintiff's litigation expenses, less taxable costs.

A Connecticut medical malpractice lawyer or attorney will be well versed in state healthcare and medical malpractice laws like these, and they will have the ability to easily navigate through those state laws to help you recover damages. Medical malpractice attorneys will typically focus on several areas of medical malpractice. These may include some or all of the following: anesthesia negligence, nursing home injuries and negligence, pharmaceutical negligence, birth injury, emergency room errors, surgery errors, medication errors, cerebral palsy, and brain damage, to name a few.

Because medical malpractice law is a highly specialized field, it’s best to seek out attorneys and lawyers whose main focus is medical malpractice law.

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