Medical Malpractice Claims in Louisiana

Each type of personal injury claim presents distinct legal and logistical challenges. Medical malpractice or negligence lawsuits are often highly complex. The evidence required to prove medical negligence can be challenging to attain and interpret. 

This is just as true in Louisiana as in other states: For this reason, it is critical that claimants speak with a medical malpractice attorney in Louisiana to pursue compensation. The legal issues surrounding standards of medical care are also highly involved and intricate.

One of the requirements for medical malpractice claimants in the state of Louisiana is a medical review process. When filing a claim, victims will need to undergo this review before the deadline has elapsed. 

The statute of limitations on malpractice lawsuits in Louisiana is typically one year from the date of the negligent action. If you are unaware of your illness or injury until later, you must file a lawsuit within a year of the discovery of the negligence.  

Claimants who claim not to have discovered their illness or injury until later must prove that they learned about the damage as soon as it was reasonable. If you sustained an injury from a doctor’s negligence more than a year ago, speak with a medical malpractice attorney in Louisiana to explore your options. 

Victims of medical malpractice must file a lawsuit within three years of the date of the alleged negligence. This is true regardless of the severity of the damage or the reasonableness of its discovery. 

Failing to pursue a lawsuit before the statute of limitations has expired usually results in the dismissal of your case. You should speak with a medical malpractice lawyer at Morgan and Morgan as soon as possible following a care-related injury or illness. 

Before you can file a malpractice lawsuit, you must request a review from a medical review panel. This committee will assess your case and rule on its validity. 

There are some rare exceptions to this required review. They include instances when: 

• Victims previously agreed to related binding arbitration
• Providers have not met the requirements for participation in the review
• The claimant and defendant have agreed to forego the review 

Once the claimant submits a request for review, the statute of limitations is usually suspended. Speak with a medical malpractice attorney in Louisiana to pursue compensation before the deadline for your case expires. 

Medical review panels in Louisiana are made up of three healthcare professionals. The claimant and defendant both have the option to submit evidence to the review panel. Some examples of relevant evidence include: 

• Medical records
• Testimony from medical experts
• Transcripts of relevant depositions 

The panel will determine whether the presented evidence justifies a medical negligence lawsuit. If a lawsuit occurs after the panel review, members of this panel can be called to testify at trial. 

Should you believe you have a valid injury claim, it is vital to consult with a skilled medical malpractice attorney in Louisiana. Contact Morgan & Morgan to schedule a complimentary meeting to discuss your medical negligence case.

When you have been injured because of a medical professional’s negligent behavior, you may wonder what types of compensation you can recover. In most personal injury claims, plaintiffs can pursue both economic and non-economic damages. 

Economic damages are a category of compensatory payments intended to make up for the plaintiff’s direct monetary expenses. When you are injured or otherwise harmed by a medical professional, you will likely sustain significant financial losses, such as in the form of additional medical bills. 

Victims should not have to pay for the costs arising from an injury or illness that another person caused. This is especially true when the liable party is a trained medical professional.

Economic damages are usually easy to quantify because they entail a specific monetary loss. Some examples of economic damages in medical malpractice claims include: 

• Additional medical bills
• Expected costs of future medical care
• The expense of necessary assistive devices
• Lost income from missing work
• Inability to earn wages into the future 

Experts may be useful when quantifying the economic damages in an injury claim, but a skilled attorney will know the best course of action to recover the money you deserve. 

Non-economic damages are compensatory payments that make up for the following forms of personal, psychological, and emotional harm: 

• Decreased enjoyment of life
• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress and anguish
• Anxiety, panic, and depression 

It can be exceedingly difficult to determine the dollar value of non-economic damages in a medical malpractice claim. A seasoned lawyer will assess the facts of your claim to calculate its value. 

Do not allow a negligent medical professional or a tightfisted insurance provider to deny you fair compensation. Let the team at Morgan and Morgan calculate the value of your claim and fight to obtain maximum financial recovery for you.

In most personal injury lawsuits, claimants can hope to recover compensatory damages. However, some medical malpractice suits make it possible for victims to obtain punitive damages. 

These financial payments are not intended to make up for any damage to the victim. Punitive damages are only available in rare cases and are meant to punish the negligent defendant directly. 

In most medical malpractice lawsuits, punitive damages are only awarded if the defendant is proven to have been intentionally harmful. If a surgeon deliberately left an object inside a patient’s body during an operation, punitive damages may be awarded. 

The recoverable amount of punitive damages for the plaintiff is decided by the judge or jury. Speak to a legal professional about possible punitive damages in your case.

The state of Louisiana, like many others, has passed laws placing limits on medical malpractice damages. Successful plaintiffs can only recover up to a certain amount of money in a successful medical negligence lawsuit. 

Some states place limits on particular types of damages, but Louisiana imposes a cap on the total damages in malpractice lawsuits. Under Louisiana state law, plaintiffs can only be awarded up to $500,000 in medical malpractice cases. However, the expected costs of necessary future medical care are exempt from this cap. 

The knowledgeable litigators at Morgan and Morgan will work to recover as much as possible in your malpractice claim. 

When you have sustained a severe injury or illness, you are likely to experience significant monetary losses. Most victims are reasonably concerned about the costs of legal representation, though some mistakenly think hiring a tort lawyer requires substantial upfront payments. 

You should never work with a civil attorney that requires payment prior to resolving your case. The compassionate lawyers at Morgan & Morgan understand the multitude of challenges that victims experience, which is why our attorneys are compensated through a contingency fee payment structure. 

A contingency fee is a portion of the financial recovery from a legal settlement or verdict used to cover the cost of legal services. Our firm will agree to represent you in exchange for a particular percentage of the recovery from your case.  

You only pay attorneys’ fees after our skilled legal team has successfully recovered the financial compensation you are entitled to, ensuring that your legal representative is always working in your best financial interest. If you do not get the money you deserve, we do not get paid.

Not every mistake that a doctor makes qualifies as medical negligence. Care providers are only human, after all. 

However, physicians have a legal duty to provide patients with a reasonable standard of medical care. If your doctor behaved in a way that would be inappropriate for a similarly trained medical professional, and you are harmed as a result, it may qualify as negligence. 

Medical negligence can take many different forms. Some of the most common types of medical negligence are: 

• Birthing injuries and errors
• Errors in the application of anesthesia
• Failure to diagnose
• Misdiagnoses
• Wrong medication or dosage
• Failure to consider the patient’s medical history
• Surgical errors
• Lack of post-surgical care 

These are only a few circumstances that may result in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Speaking with a skilled personal injury attorney will help you to understand your legal options.

If you have become ill or injured due to a doctor’s negligence, you deserve justice. The accomplished Louisiana tort attorneys at Morgan and Morgan know what it takes to hold medical professionals and institutions accountable. 

We will calculate the value of your case and negotiate forcefully on your behalf. If the other party is uncooperative and negotiations break down, we will not hesitate to file a malpractice lawsuit for you. 

Victims of negligence should be compensated for the financial and personal harm they have experienced. Schedule a no-cost legal case evaluation by filling out the form on the Morgan and Morgan website. Let our Louisiana injury lawyers fight effectively for you.