New Bedford Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Seeking medical treatment from a healthcare provider for an illness or condition should be a reassuring experience as they implement thorough diagnostic testing, provide knowledgeable diagnoses, and offer exceptional treatment. However, some medical providers fail to uphold their duty of care and harm patients due to medical negligence. 

If you have suffered injuries or a decline in health due to medical malpractice in New Bedford, speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers for a comprehensive assessment of your claim. As an award-winning medical malpractice legal team with over 45 years of experience, we have helped victims recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and can help you determine your best legal options for the most favorable outcome. Schedule a free consultation at 617-391-9001 or fill out our contact form for knowledgeable legal guidance. 

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice in New Bedford? 

When you seek medical treatment at a hospital or other medical facility, you expect an adequate standard of care. However, there are instances where medical professionals make medical errors, act negligently, or fail to uphold medical standards. If a physician, nurse, technician, or other healthcare provider harms or injures you during treatment and you believe their care does not align with how a different medical professional would have acted, it may be constituted as medical negligence. 

Medical malpractice may occur during any phase of the treatment process, including diagnoses, treatment, follow-up care, and emergency treatment. To determine whether a medical provider has violated the standard duty of care, speak with an experienced New Bedford medical malpractice lawyer for an assessment of your claim. We will extensively investigate the details of your case, gather valuable evidence, and retain field specialists to testify as to how the breach occurred and how your medical provider should have acted. 

When to Hire a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you have been injured as a result of medical negligence, you may be eligible to pursue legal recourse for the harm you have suffered due to a medical professional’s wrongful conduct. Working with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer can help determine whether you have a case and guide you through your best legal options. 

The following are four signs it may be time to contact a New Bedford medical malpractice lawyer: 

1. You Have Had Issues Following Surgery 

Over 310 million surgeries are performed annually, and despite the awareness of the adverse effects of substandard care, surgical errors still occur at a high rate. Mistakes such as leaving a foreign object in a patient, anesthesia errors, wrong-site surgery, and inadequate experience or training result in an average of 4,000 surgical errors per year. 

If you have experienced medical complications following surgery, you may be eligible to seek damages in a medical malpractice claim. 

2. Your Medical Condition Has Worsened 

If you have undergone care from a physician and have suffered a worsening illness or condition, you may benefit from speaking with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Some patients may suffer medical complications or new adverse conditions due to substandard care. 

It may be challenging to prove that a physician’s actions directly caused your condition to worsen without the help of a lawyer. At Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers, we can conduct an extensive investigation to obtain the evidence necessary to bolster your chances of success. 

3. You Received the Wrong Prescription 

Patients rely on pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to be attentive and detail oriented when it comes to prescriptions that affect their medical conditions and general health. If a doctor makes a mistake and gives the wrong medication or dosage, it may have drastic, sometimes fatal consequences. 

Deviating from a medication not explicitly prescribed by a doctor is dangerous and may have side effects such as internal bleeding, organ failure, or severe allergic reactions. Speak with a medical malpractice lawyer if your injury or illness resulted from being given the wrong prescription. 

4. You Did Not Receive Timely Medical Care 

Unfortunately, patients may not be given proper attention when they see a physician or go to a hospital. If a doctor has dismissed your symptoms, dismissed requested diagnostic testing, or delayed or denied urgent care, you may have a valid medical malpractice claim. 

The skilled medical malpractice lawyers at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers can handle all aspects of your claim, from retaining medical experts to reviewing the circumstances surrounding your case. We can help determine whether a medical treatment, misdiagnosis, or treatment is true malpractice and seek the justice you deserve. 

How to Prove Medical Malpractice in New Bedford 

Working with a skilled New Bedford medical malpractice lawyer at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers can help you prove the elements of medical negligence. In order to obtain a successful outcome for your claim and secure your right compensatory damages, you must have evidence of the following: 

Established Duty of Care 

Initially, you must prove that the medical provider owed you a reasonable duty of care. This may be determined if a doctor-patient relationship was established when you began treatment. If you were under their medical care, they owed you a duty of care to uphold standard medical practices and make decisions based on what any doctor would reasonably do. 

Violation of Duty of Care 

Upon establishing a doctor-patient relationship, you must prove that they violated a standard duty of care. This may be challenging to prove as not every negative medical outcome is due to medical malpractice. To prove a medical professional acted negligently, you must establish that they did not exercise reasonable care that is typical in the medical industry. This could mean that a different medical professional with the same expertise and situation would have acted differently. 

Some examples of deviation from the standard duty of care include: 

• Surgical mistakes 
• Failure to diagnose 
• Misdiagnosis 

At Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers, we comprehensively investigate the details of your claim to determine negligence during your treatment. If your doctor violated their duty of care, we may work to gather valuable evidence so you may obtain the full compensation you deserve for the losses you have suffered. 

Violation of Duty of Care Directly Caused Damages 

Lastly, you must prove that the violation of the duty of care directly caused damages. With the help of a skilled New Bedford medical malpractice lawyer, you may determine the value of your claim, including future damages. Damages you may recover include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses associated with the harm you’ve suffered. 

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations 

In Massachusetts, medical malpractice claims must be filed within three years of discovery. The three-year time limit does not begin until the victim discovers the malpractice because injuries may be latent. The overarching filing deadline is seven years after the medical error occurred, regardless of whether it is discoverable and even if the doctor-patient relationship existed during that time. 

Though this deadline may seem far away, it is important to reach out to a New Bedford personal injury attorney as soon as you can. Evidence can fade with time and claims can sometimes drag on, so starting the process early helps ensure that your claim will be handled before the statute of limitations deadline.

Speak With the Experienced New Bedford Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers 

When you trust a medical provider with your health and well-being, you expect them to uphold an adequate standard of care. If you were harmed during any phase of treatment after the doctor-patient relationship was established, you may be eligible to seek compensatory damages. With the help of an experienced New Bedford medical malpractice lawyer at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers, we can determine the value of your claim and your best legal options moving forward. 

The experienced medical malpractice legal team at Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers offers exceptional representation to medical negligence victims by handling all aspects of their claims and offering knowledgeable legal guidance to obtain the most favorable outcome. J. Tucker Merrigan and Kyle A. Camilleri are devoted to medical malpractice litigation and have earned a reputation for success in awards such as Rising Star, Super Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40, National Trial Lawyers, and Top Attorney Award. 

We fight for the lawful justice you deserve and have secured upwards of multi-millions of dollars in damages, holding medical professionals fully accountable for the suffering they have caused. Schedule a no-cost consultation with a skilled medical malpractice lawyer today at 617-391-9001 or fill out our contact form.