Medical malpractice is an extremely complex area of law, and a specialization within the field of personal injury law. As such, you should make sure that any Ottawa personal injury lawyer you are consulting with on this type of claim specifically practices in the area of medical malpractice. At Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l our personal injury department has substantial experience in managing malpractice claims. We have the expertise as well as the access to medical resources required to properly investigate your claim.
A medical malpractice claim arises when the care provided for a patient falls below the accepted standards of medical practice and causes the patient injury as a result. Physicians, nurses, health care providers, hospitals, dentists and chiropractors are all held to these standards, and may be responsible for losses that are suffered if these standards are not met.
Health professionals are required to obtain liability insurance, so although you may be commencing an action against the individual or hospital, it is generally an insurance company who will be defending the claim and providing compensation.
Malpractice actions often arise out of a failure to properly diagnose a patient, or a failure to properly treat a patient, but can also arise from a range of other issues. Determining if a health care provider breached the standard of care and/or if it was the cause of your damages is usually the first step in assessing any malpractice action and can often involves consultation with medical specialists.
The time limitation period for a medical malpractice action is generally two years, but keep in mind that our medical malpractice lawyers may need some time to obtain records and assess your file before we can properly advise you on commencing an action. Therefore you should ensure that you get legal advice from an Ottawa malpractice lawyer well in advance of this deadline. The two years begins at the time that you knew, or ought to have known, of the negligence/malpractice. When this period begins to run is not always easy to determine, so until advised by a lawyer, consider the two year period to begin at the earliest date possible.
