Medical Malpractice Law

When a routine surgery goes awry, the aftermath can feel like a free fall. A patient wakes to unexpected paralysis, a family confronts a newborn’s unexplained brain injury, or a slow cancer diagnosis steals critical months. Medical malpractice law exists to steady that fall. It compels hospitals, physicians, and insurers to answer a simple question: Did the caregiver meet the standard of care a reasonably skilled professional would provide? When the answer is “no,” compensation covers the cost of lifelong therapy, lost income, or the wheelchair ramp that no one planned to install.

Behind each claim lies a thicket of statutes and deadlines. In most states, an affidavit of merit is due before suit is even filed; elsewhere, a pre-litigation screening panel decides whether the case may proceed. Success rests on experts who can translate MRI films and operative reports into plain English for a jury. Good lawyers build a timeline that exposes every missed chart note and every ignored vital sign, then explain how a single lapse snowballed into catastrophe.