Connecticut Doctor Negligence Lawyers

Filing a Doctor or Nurse Malpractice Claim

When we visit the doctor or go to the hospital, we expect to receive a certain level of care. In fact, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are required to provide all patients with an acceptable standard of care—but this doesn’t always happen. When doctors and nurses are negligent, innocent patients suffer the consequences.

If you believe you or someone you love was the victim of medical malpractice, reach out to RisCassi & Davis, P.C. right away to learn how we can help you protect your rights. You could be entitled to financial compensation for your resulting additional medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering, and our doctor and nurse negligence lawyers in Connecticut can fight to maximize your recovery. Since 1955, our highly respected firm has successfully secured tens of millions of dollars for injured individuals and the families of those wrongfully killed, including some of the largest injury settlements and verdicts in Connecticut history.

The first step in your recovery is reaching out to RisCassi & Davis, P.C. for a free, no-obligation consultation. Call (860) 245-2412 or contact us online to get started.

Can You Sue a Doctor for Malpractice?

Doctors are expected to provide a certain acceptable standard of care to patients. This means listening to and analyzing patients’ symptoms, conducting or ordering necessary diagnostic tests, informing patients of their treatment options and the possible risks, and referring patients to specialists when appropriate, among other things. While the vast majority of doctors live up to this standard of care, some do not. Regardless of a doctor’s intent to cause harm, if he or she does not provide you with an acceptable standard of care and you are injured or harmed as a result, you could have grounds for a case.

In order to have grounds to bring a negligence case against a doctor, you must be able to prove all of the following elements:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed between you and the doctor
• The doctor was somehow negligent (note: a poor outcome does not necessarily indicate negligence)
• You were injured or suffered some other harm (worsened condition, illness, etc.)
• Your injuries/harm were caused by the doctor’s negligence
• You suffered damages, whether economic or non-economic

It’s important to note that just because a doctor struggles to diagnose a rare disease or enacts a treatment plan that ultimately does not result in you being healed, this does not constitute negligence. You must prove that the doctor somehow failed to uphold the standard of care; usually, this requires the testimony of expert witnesses.

Additionally, while it is possible to sue the doctor directly for negligence, in some cases, the doctor’s employer may be legally liable. This could be the case if a hospital hired a doctor who had a known history of malpractice or if a medical facility failed to take any meaningful action to remove a doctor who had been demonstrably negligent in the past, for example.

What Is Nursing Malpractice?

Just like doctors, nurses are highly skilled medical professionals who have a duty to provide patients with acceptable standards of care. However, this does not always happen.

Some examples of nursing malpractice include:

• Misuse of medical equipment
• Medication mistakes
• Anesthesia errors
• Failure to act when action is required
• Failure to respond to patient emergencies
• Improper sterilization of medical instruments/tools
• Failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs
• Incorrect entering of patient information into patient’s chart
• Failure to alert doctor of patient’s changing status

These and other examples of nurse negligence are far more common than many people realize. If you suspect that you or someone you love was the victim of substandard nursing care, it’s important to contact an experienced nurse negligence lawyer in Connecticut who can help you determine if you have grounds for a case. In most cases, nurse negligence claims are brought not against the nurse him/herself but against the attending doctor, hospital, urgent care facility, or another employer.

Your Time to File a Claim Is Limited

It’s important that you act quickly if you believe you or a loved one was the victim of doctor or nurse malpractice in Connecticut, as the state imposes a two-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims. This means that you only have two years from the date of the incident that caused the injury/harm to bring your case.

There is a fairly common exception to this statute of limitations, and that is when the patient does not realize right away that they have been injured. When the patient discovers the injury at a later date, the statute of limitations starts on the date on which he or she discovered the injury or reasonably should have discovered the injury. At that point, the patient has two years to file a lawsuit.

Contact RisCassi & Davis, P.C. for Trusted Legal Representation

Our firm is committed to providing injured individuals and families throughout the state with a high level of legal representation and personalized services tailored to their unique needs. Seven of our attorneys are Board Certified Civil Trial Law Advocates by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a prestigious and distinctive honor held by very few practicing attorneys. We are ready to use our reputation, our resources, and our expertise to fight for the maximum compensation you deserve.

Get in touch with our doctor negligence lawyers in Connecticut today to learn more during a free, no-obligation consultation. We offer contingency fees, so you do not owe anything unless we recover compensation for you. We are available for evening and weekend appointments upon request and can travel anywhere in the state of Connecticut to meet with you.

Call our office at (860) 245-2412 to schedule your complimentary consultation with our Connecticut doctor malpractice attorneys today.