Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Serving Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven and Surrounding Areas

Medical malpractice is treatment by a medical professional that does not meet the standard level of care and results in harm to the patient. There are numerous forms of medical malpractice including but not limited to medication errors, improper diagnosis, lack of informed consent, breach of contract, failure to diagnose, emergency room errors, surgical errors, misuse of medical devices, breach of confidentiality, birth injuries and anesthesia errors. However, a poor or unsatisfactory medical outcome does not in itself constitute malpractice. An experienced medical malpractice attorney from Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC will be able to explain to you why your case is medical malpractice or why it is not.

Pervasive Problem
It has been estimated that medical mistakes cause more than 100,000 deaths each year in the United States. According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer. Some other startling statistics include:

• 12,000 deaths a year from unnecessary surgery
• 7,000 deaths a year from medication errors in hospitals
• 20,000 deaths a year from other errors in hospitals
• 80,000 deaths a year from infections in hospitals

As you can see, there is clearly a need for experienced medical malpractice attorneys to assist the victims of medical mistakes in the complicated and lengthy legal process that is involved with each medical malpractice claim. Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC have represented many different medical malpractice victims who have been injured or who have suffered a death in the family due to medical malpractice and negligence.

There are three basic elements that must be present in your medical malpractice case:

• There must have been a professional relationship between you and the health care provider to establish responsibility.
• The health care provider must have acted below the standard level of care that any other health care provider would have used in the same situation.
• This substandard care must have harmed you in some way.

Who's Responsible?
Physicians are not the only healthcare professional that can be held responsible for medical malpractice. Defendants have included:

• Surgeons
• Anesthesiologists
• Dentists
• Nurses
• Emergency room staff
• Hospitals
• Nursing homes
• Pharmaceutical companies

What Are Some Examples of Medical Mistakes?
Common types of medical malpractice include:

• Emergency Room Errors
  • Failure to fully evaluate a patient
  • Failure to monitor a patient
  • Delayed treatment
  • Delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose
  • Laboratory errors
  • Medication errors

• Surgical Mistakes
  • Gastric bypass malpractice
  • Wrong site surgery
  • Anesthesia error
  • Dirty surgical instruments
  • Sponges, instruments, etc, left inside patient

• Failure to Diagnose
  • Cancer
  • Stroke
  • Heart attack
  • Neck fractures
  • Brain injury

Some other forms of medical malpractice include misuse of medical devices, failure to obtain informed consent, confidentiality breach, and the list goes on and on.

Informed Consent
In many situations where medical care or treatment is provided, medical professionals are required to obtain the patient's "informed consent." Although the specific definition of informed consent may vary from state to state, it essentially means that a physician or other medical provider must tell a patient all of the potential benefits, risks, and alternatives involved in any surgical/medical procedure or other course of treatment and must obtain the patient's written consent to proceed. If this duty is breached and an injury or death results, the patient or the patient's survivors may have a legal claim for damages.

Doctor/Patient Confidentiality
Physicians have always had a duty to keep their patients' confidences. The physician's duty to maintain confidentiality means that a physician may not disclose any medical information revealed by a patient or discovered by a physician in connection with the treatment of a patient. The American Medical Association's (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics states that the information disclosed to a physician during the course of the patient-physician relationship is confidential to the utmost degree.

As explained by the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, the purpose of a physician's ethical duty to maintain patient confidentiality is to allow the patient to feel free to make a full and frank disclosure of information to the physician with the knowledge that the physician will protect the confidential nature of the information disclosed. Full disclosure enables the physician to diagnose conditions properly and to treat the patient appropriately.

In return for the patient's honesty, the physician generally should not reveal confidential communications or information without the patient's express consent unless required to disclose the information by law. There are exceptions to the rule, such as where a patient threatens bodily harm to himself or herself or to another person.

Misuse of Medical Devices
Much of the surgical/medical care provided today involves the use of multiple medical devices. Unfortunately, with the high level of medical device use and the risk of human error, medical mistakes involving medical devices is becoming more common. In spite of thorough training and user caution, medical device use problems do happen, and patient harm is often the result. The factors involved with misuse of medical devices are manufacturer error and user error.

While many medical devices are safe and effective for their intended uses, many others are not. When using a medical device, it is imperative that the doctor or other medical professional disclose to the patient the risks attached to the use of the device. Failure to give such informed consent may give rise to a claim for malpractice against the medical professional.

What You Can Do
If you or a loved one has been injured by medical malpractice, here are some things you should do:

• Contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney right away
• Obtain copies of all of your medical records
• Keep all receipts for any and all expenses resulting from the medical malpractice
• Keep a record of any income lost due to the medical malpractice

If you or a loved one has suffered or died as a result of medical malpractice in Hartford or anywhere in Connecticut, please contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at Trantolo & Trantolo, LLC.