(845) 802-0047After a medical error causes injury and leaves you in financial straits, your best option could be to file an Albany ER malpractice claim. For many people, getting started is the hardest part. You should first consult with a detail-oriented ER malpractice attorney to learn what is necessary to begin a legal pursuit.
Who Can a Patient File a Malpractice Claim Against?
A patient has the right to name any party that they want as a defendant. It could be a nurse, a physician’s assistant, a nurse practitioner, a physician, or even the hospital itself. Ideally, they would want to only name the person or persons who are truly culpable for violating the standard of care. In most cases, that would be the attending physician.
The attending physician is responsible for all of the care provided to the patient during their hospital admission. If the patient is not immediately aware of who this person is, the name of the attending physician would be in the upper part of every single page of the medical record, as well as on the admission note and the discharge summary. The attending physician will typically sign the discharge summary around the same time that the patient is discharged from the hospital. These signed documents will prove invaluable when filing an ER malpractice claim in Albany.
Advantages of Hiring an Attorney
An attorney could provide answers to complex medical malpractice questions. If somebody has a bad result from an emergency room visit, they will want to know if the medical providers deviated from the accepted medical standards of care, which will not be immediately obvious to the average person.
A lawyer could then reach out for the official medical records and review them with a medical expert to determine if the doctor acted in a negligent manner. In some cases, there will be no quick or easy answers. A typical physician might not have the right background or education to provide an in-depth opinion on certain medical scenarios. As a result, a higher-level medical specialist, such as a neurosurgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, or an infectious disease physician might be required in order to get the full picture.
Statute of Limitations to File
If there was a deviation from good and accepted medical standards of care, and it was a substantial factor in causing harm, injury, or death to the patient, then the case has merit and can be pursued. In Albany, there is a two years and six months statute of limitations to file a malpractice claim against the hospital or the doctor.
A big exception to that would be in a wrongful death case, where the statute of limitations is just two years. For a municipal hospital they have a shortened statute of limitations which is one-year and 90 days after the date of death. In addition, an injured party must file a notice of claim to a municipal hospital within 90 days of the malpractice. This justifies alerting a lawyer to the incident as quickly as possible after it happened.
File an ER Malpractice Claim with an Albany Attorney
There is a lot that goes into starting a malpractice claim – more than most other personal injury lawsuits. If you need assistance in filing an Albany ER malpractice claim, a lawyer stands ready to work you through it. Reach out now to learn what might be possible in your specific situation.