Today healthcare is a very complicated field. Much too often families do not receive the care they deserve and expect from medical providers. When that happens, you have the right to question the decisions and care provided in order to determine if medical malpractice has been committed. Making a claim of medical malpractice is a very technical area of the law. Records have to be reviewed by trained experts who are familiar with medical terminology and standards of medical care. Having an experienced team to assess a claim of medical malpractice is critical to determining if you or your family member was the victim of negligent care. Rikard and Protopapas Law Firm has the experience and technical background to assess any medical malpractice question. Call for an appointment if you have a question.

Medical malpractice occurs when there is negligence committed by a healthcare provider such as a doctor, nurse, hospital or physician assistant. To prove a claim for medical malpractice, you must establish that the medical provider breached an applicable standard of care that caused you to suffer damages.

According to the Institute of Medicine, medical errors kill at least 44,000 Americans each year and possibly as many as 98,000 people. This means that more Americans die from medical malpractice each year than from breast cancer, highway accidents, or airplane crashes. Yet, astoundingly, the IOM says the medical industry has done little to curb the problem and lags far behind other high-risk industries, such as the airline industry, in its attention to ensuring basic safety.