Noah930 |
10-15-2015 09:45 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by targa911S
(Post 8837011)
an error in diagnosis does not constitute malpractice.
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I think it depends (but I agree with the gist of what you're saying). It depends on the magnitude of the error. It depends on who makes the error. And it also depends on whether a lawsuit progresses to a jury trial, as at that point anything can happen--regardless of the medical facts and science involved.
I just wanted the OP to go in with realistic expectations. Just because something bad happened doesn't mean there was malpractice. And as you point out, there can even have been a mistake in diagnosis or care, and that still does not necessitate malpractice. There's a degree of "it depends." As someone has already pointed out, 80-90% of malpractice lawsuits are found in favor of the medical provider; so 80-90% of the time, the attorney doing the suing was wrong (or incompetent, take your pick--heck, if you lose the lawsuit against the doc, then go sue your attorney for bungling the original lawsuit).
Regarding statute of limitations, every state is different, but also there is a concept of when it became known to the injured party that a negative outcome was related to an original adverse event (and that differs from state to state). So you could have had an injury years ago, but if you only recently discovered that the injury resulted in current problems, then the "statute of limitations" may vary. I'm not a lawyer, so I know I'm blowing the exact legal terminology.
An "applicant attorney" -- at least in California, where I live -- is the attorney who represents the plaintiff (to use a Judge Wapner reference, though there are other less endearing terms used in our vernacular).
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