What is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

• Failure to Diagnose / Misdiagnosis –

Doctors can fail to diagnose a condition for a long period of time. A doctor may misdiagnose an illness as something else. The most common failure is when a doctor dismisses a patient’s symptoms. Causing a patient can miss out on crucial, even life-saving treatments. Misdiagnosis can also lead to unnecessary or harmful interventions and treatment.

• Surgical Mistakes –

Accidents can happen during surgery. But sometimes medical staff are negligent. Medical charts are can be misread. Procedures may happen on the wrong part of the body. Surgical equipment might be left inside the patient’s body. Post-surgical care and guidance could be insufficient or improper. All of these situations can lead to unnecessary infections and injury.

• Medication or Anesthesia Errors –

Medication errors are very common. They occur most often during anesthesia. For example, the wrong class of drug could be prescribed. A nurse may administer the wrong dosage. Medical staff might overlook a serious drug interaction or allergy. Medication errors are common and easy to miss.

When Do I Have To File My Claim?

Louisiana law has a one-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims. Basically, this means a patient has one year from the day of the incident to file a medical malpractice claim.

Louisiana also has something known as the discovery rule. If a patient did not know, or couldn’t be expected to know of the medical malpractice, they also have one year to file. In this case, they must file within one year from the date they discover the medical malpractice. But, there’s a strict three year limit for filing medical malpractice claims. Even if the patient had no idea that malpractice happened until after the three-year limit. This three-year strict limitation is the statute of repose.

• The loss of your earnings while injured. 
• The loss of your earning capacity in the future.
• You can also receive compensation for the pain and suffering you endured because of negligence.

The Law Offices of L. Clayton Burgess take pride in our expertise in medical malpractice cases. Our Lafayette Medical Malpractice & Negligence Lawyers have twenty years of experience and can pull from a wealth of knowledge and resources. Perhaps you are struggling with lost wages, medical bills, and pain? If you have suffered from a negligent medical procedure, let us advocate on your behalf.