Medical malpractice occurs when a specialized doctor makes an error or fails to apply an accepted level of ability, which causes a damage or death. A medical malpractice lawsuit may be established when an unjust death or surgical mistake has occurred as a consequence of a medical process.
Every year more and more people are damaged or die as a consequence of this situation. A study made in 1990 by the Harvard School of Medicine, showed that 3% of patients treated in hospitals of New York State suffered as a direct or indirect consequence of a type of medical error that then resulted in a grave harm. This statistic is just for the state of New York. On a national scale, the same report calculated that at least over 180,000 people die per year because of problems like this.
Public Citizen, a non profit consumer advocacy association, calculates that 1.3 million damages are done due to professional carelessness every year. At least two thirds of those damages are avoidable. There are different kinds of malpractice cases, some of them are dental malpractice, hospital negligence and nursing home abuse, among others. A lot of attorneys represent victims of this but there are severe statutes of restrictions and other regulations that differ from state to state. For example, in most of the states there is a limit of two years from the time of the accident to report the malpractice and file a claim. If you or someone you know is suffering, has suffered or has even died because of medical malpractice, do not hesitate to contact your lawyer and make a claim immediately.