Connecticut Medical Malpractice Attorney

When you seek medical care, you expect it to be handled up to professional standards. When that trust is broken by a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other provider’s negligence, the result can be serious complications, injury, or death.

If a medical professional’s preventable mistake has put your or a family member’s life at risk, you need experienced legal counsel you can count on. The Connecticut medical malpractice attorneys at Connolly Brennan Ralabate, PC are here to help you evaluate your legal options.

Why Choose Us at Connolly Brennan Ralabate, PC?

For decades, our firm has been dedicated to helping clients harmed by medical malpractice. We are equipped with the medical knowledge and resources to take on large healthcare systems. Other benefits to working with our firm include:

• Robust Resources and Investigation: We meticulously prepare cases, building a strategy based on knowledge from our medical malpractice investigation team. We utilize an extensive medical library and unique in-house databases to consult with nationally known medical experts, ensuring we are fully equipped to review and investigate even the most complex medical cases.
• Dedication to Client Communication: We genuinely care about our clients and will keep you up-to-date, communicating with you throughout the process.
• Maximizing Compensation: Our goal is not just to settle, but to ensure you receive the maximum compensation possible. We thoroughly calculate both current and future expenses.

We also work on a contingency fee basis, meaning if we do not win, you will not have to pay.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?

Not every unfavorable medical outcome is a result of negligence. Medical malpractice is defined as a situation where a healthcare provider deviates from the accepted standard of care and that action harms a patient.

The standard of care is defined as the quality and type of care a reasonably competent healthcare worker would provide, given similar training and experience. If a physician, nurse, or health system fails to meet this established standard, and a patient is harmed as a result, this could be considered medical malpractice. To pursue a claim, you need to be able to prove that the defendant breached the professional duty of care, caused your injury, and the resulting damages.

Connecticut law requires attorneys to obtain a Certificate of Good Faith from a healthcare provider of similar professional standing prior to a lawsuit being filed. This gives proof to the court that the claim has a legitimate medical foundation and is not a frivolous lawsuit. We work with a network of medical experts that allows us to quickly secure the evaluation and certification, streamlining the early stages of your case.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases

Our firm handles common types of medical malpractice cases, including:

• Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose: Failure to promptly identify life-threatening conditions, leading to a critical loss of treatment time.

• Surgical Errors: Mistakes occurring during or directly after a procedure, including leaving surgical instruments in the patient, organ perforation, and anesthesia errors.

• Medication Errors: Prescribing the wrong drug, incorrect dosage, or failing to check for drug interactions or patient allergies can worsen conditions or cause new issues.

• • Childbirth Malpractice: Injuries caused to a mother or newborn during labor and delivery can stem from failure to monitor the patient or respond to fetal distress.

• Hospital-acquired Infections: Patients can acquire infections while in the hospital due to negligent practices and care.

• Negligent Care: Ignoring proper procedures, failing to monitor a patient in critical condition, and other negligent care practices can worsen a patient’s condition.

If you believe that negligence caused you harm or worsened your condition, speak with a lawyer to determine your legal rights for compensation. Medical malpractice cases help you recover compensation to cover your losses, and also help hold our healthcare professionals and systems accountable for providing the proper standard of care.

What Damages Can Be Recovered in a Connecticut Medical Malpractice Case?

A successful medical malpractice claim seeks to recover damages covering both past, present, and future expenses, as well as makes up for other losses. In Connecticut, recoverable damages typically fall into the categories of financial (economic) and subjective (non-economic).

Economic damages cover losses, like medical expenses, lost pay, loss of future earning potential, and the costs of long-term care. Non-economic damages compensate for losses such as mental anguish, emotional distress, chronic pain, and the impact on your relationships.

If the negligence shown in your case was severe, you may also be awarded punitive damages by the court, not for compensation but to make an example of the negligent healthcare professional. Your lawyer may choose to call on experts in the field to get further evidence to back up your compensation claims.

How Long Do You Have To File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Connecticut?

Under Connecticut Law C.G.S. 52-584, the statute of limitations generally allows you two years from the date the injury was sustained or discovered. There are some exceptions to this, but they are rare. Because of the strict deadline and the complicated pre-litigation steps necessary, such as the Certificate of Good Faith and the process of gathering evidence, it is critical to get started on your claim as soon as possible. Evidence is always best and freshest when gathered soon after the incident occurs. Both your own memory and the testimony of eyewitnesses are more detailed and credible the faster you are able to record them.

The sooner you get started, the better chances you have of recovering the maximum amount of compensation. Get started on your claim as soon as possible so you do not risk missing out on your chance to file.

Call Our Connecticut Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today

If you or a loved one has been seriously harmed due to a healthcare professional’s mistake, you deserve justice. Understanding that injury victims are under a heavy financial burden with medical bills and are unable to work, we work under a contingency fee, meaning we will not charge you anything unless we successfully gain compensation on your behalf.

Contact Connolly Brennan Ralabate, PC today to set up a free initial consultation to get your questions answered.