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Arkansas Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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When dealing with the possibility of medical malpractice, it's important to remember that doctors are only human beings. It's true that they have a responsibility to protect the life and well-being of the patient in their hands; however, there is a fine, difficult-to-establish line between an honest mistake and actual negligence. There are certainly some cases where a doctor or a team of healthcare professionals did not do everything in their power to help a patient, but no medical technique of diagnosis is 100% perfect, and mistakes will happen. If feel you may have been injured due to medical mistakes, or you are a family member of a loved one that died due to possible negligence, you might want to consider finding an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in your area. Not every case can be considered actual malpractice, but an attorney can help you work out the details.

Medical malpractice can be defined as negligence committed by a health care professional resulting in physical and/or economic harm to a patient. A medical malpractice lawyer or attorney will have the ability to determine if you are a victim of medical malpractice by examining several factors including whether or not there has been a breach of duty after an issuance of a duty of care, injury, and proximate cause.

While the elements of proof are fairly similar for every state, the prescribed standard of medical care varies, as well as the way in which damages are awarded and the amount of time you have to file your claim. In the state of Arkansas, you have two years after an injury complaint to file your claim or one year to do so after the discovery of a foreign object. In the case of wrongful death, three years are given, unless the death was caused by medical malpractice, in which case the two-year limitation still holds. Different time frames exist when children are involved.

The state of Arkansas has many additional rules and regulations on malpractice law. Unlike many states where there is a set cap on the amount of damages recoverable, there is no statutory provision in Arkansas that limits the amount of damages a claimant may recover in a medical malpractice action. There are also, however, no provisions limiting attorney fees in medical malpractice suits. Also, if many people were involved with the malpractice, a claimant could prosecute any one among the involved party. The relative degree of fault among the responsible people will be considered when large disproportions exist. Doctors and healthcare personnel aside, a hospital itself cannot be included in the list of those liable, if the negligence occurred through an independently-contracted physician.

An Arkansas medical malpractice lawyer or attorney will be well versed in state healthcare and medical malpractice laws, and they will have the ability to easily navigate through these state laws to help you recover damages. Medical malpractice attorneys will typically focus on several areas of medical malpractice. These may include some or all of the following: anesthesia negligence, nursing home injuries and negligence, pharmaceutical negligence, birth injury, emergency room errors, surgery errors, medication errors, cerebral palsy, and brain damage.

Medical malpractice law is a highly specialized field, so if you feel that you or a loved one has suffered from negligence, seek out attorneys and lawyers whose main focus is medical malpractice law.