Medical malpractice cases include (among others):

  • Failure to diagnose or delay in diagnosis of cancer, heart disease, or other progressive and otherwise treatable diseases;
  • Surgical errors, such as performing wrong-sided surgery, unnecessary surgery, contraindicated surgery, or negligently injuring a person during surgery;
  • Errors during childbirth leading to birth trauma, maternal injuries, or other birth-related injuries;
  • Errors in causing and/or failing to diagnose or treat injuries during routine procedures.

Central Questions in these cases are:

a. whether there was departure from the standard of care; and
b. was that departure directly and causally related to the injury(ies).

The law defines standard of care as that which is expected of the average practitioner in a particular specialty under similar circumstances given the advances of the profession and the resources available to the physician at the time.  The only way to prove a breach of the standard of care is by having a physician render an expert opinion that it was breached and the cause of injury.  The law requires expert opinions on the issues of standard of care and causation.

For a free consultation on a medical malpractice case, please feel free to contact Considine & Furey, LLP at 617-723-7200.