Medical Malpractice
Karen has handled medical malpractice cases for over 25 years. Medical malpractice is also called medical negligence. Karen handles the cases from the earliest phases of investigation up through trial. You will not be passed off to a paralegal or associate. Karen evaluates all cases personally. Karen also retains the services of a legal nurse consultant on many of her cases and works closely with expert witnesses to make sure your case has solid medical and legal support.
Most people who decide to pursue a medical malpractice claim do so for one of four reasons: (1) they have questions about what happened and the medical providers are not giving them the answers; (2) they don’t want what happened to them or their loved one to happen to anyone else; (3) they want the medical providers to take responsibility for what they have done; and/or (4) the injuries or loss that has resulted from the malpractice has caused economic hardship.
In order to prove a claim for medical malpractice, the burden of proof is on the injured person to prove three things. First, they must prove that the medical provider violated the standard of care–that they were negligent. A medical provider is negligent when he or she fails to use reasonable care under the circumstances. Reasonable care by a doctor, dentist, advanced practice nurse, specialist or other healthcare provider is care that meets an accepted standard of care a medical provider who is in a similar practice in a similar community would use or follow under similar circumstances. A failure to provide care that meets an accepted standard of care under the circumstances would be negligence. Negligence must be proven through the testimony of expert witnesses.
The second thing the injured person must prove is that it was the medical provider’s negligence that caused the harm to them. Again, the injured person will need an expert witness to prove this. Just because there is a bad outcome does not always mean that someone was negligent. If something occurs that is a known risk of the procedure or treatment and that risk was discussed with the patient, the occurrence of that risk may not be due to negligence.
Finally, the injured person must prove the extent of the harm that they suffered as a result of the negligence. If the harm is minimal, a decision will have to be made as to whether or not the extent of the injuries would justify the time and expense of litigation. Karen will address this issue with you.
Personal injury
A personal injury claim may be brought when a person is injured as a direct result of the negligence of another person(s). Negligence is the failure to use reasonable care. Reasonable care is the care a reasonable person would use in the same or similar circumstances.
Negligence occurs when a person:
1. Does something a reasonable person would not do; or
2. Fails to do something a reasonable person would do.
Personal injury claims include claims for injuries or death resulting from automobile accidents. Karen has handled personal injury cases since 1986. She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in these claims. Because she has handled both sides, she has a deep understanding of what it takes to prove up a personal injury claim and to fairly evaluate such claims.
