Baton Rouge Louisiana Medical Malpractice Attorney

Health care professional - doctors, nurses, and all supportive staff - providers spend years developing the intellectual knowledge, physical skill, and professional credentials to heal others. As a group, their dedication to alleviating suffering is unwavering and unquestionable. Unfortunately, these same professionals are also vulnerable to mistake, and the impact of their mistakes is equal to the impact of their successes - profound. The National Academy of Sciences reports that just under 100,000 Americans die from "medical mistakes" each year.

A medical mistake is not (always) the same thing as medical malpractice. Baton Rouge medical malpractice is a form of negligence under personal injury law, which involves a medical treatment provider. If an individual is injured as a result of a medical treatment provider digressing from "the standard of care," medical malpractice may have occurred, and the medical professional may be liable for the injury.

"Standard of care" refers to the average, accepted level of skill and care for that particular affliction, procedure, division of medicine, and geographic region. In other words, how would a reasonably competent medical professional practicing in the same field as the defendant, and in the same area of the defendant, do under the circumstances that the defendant was facing with respect to care and treatment of the patient?

It is important to recognize that Baton Rouge medical malpractice does NOT occur each time treatment ends with a bad outcome. Less important than the outcome in determining medical malpractice is the course of treatment relative to standards, understanding that professonals are granted some latitude in how they choose to address the specific problems of specific patients.

If you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance, call Gordon R. Crawford at (225)647-2881 or toll free 1-800-889-1313. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary recovery of funds. In many cases, a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.